Jess and I are running our first ever marathon in Budapest on October 7th- and we've been training hard together all summer- even through the crazy heat!- to challenge ourselves and raise money for an organisation that is very close to my heart.
My friend Theo set up Xenia women in June 2016, as an experiment as part of Antiuniversity Now Festival.
The idea was to run a workshop that would give migrant women an opportunity to practice English with native English speakers taking part in the session alongside them, also providing childcare so that mothers could participate. Expecting just a few women to attend, Theo and the other organisers were instead met with a packed room and were asked if there would be another workshop the next week.
We now run weekly workshops with more women joining us and more organisations working with us to deliver great sessions.
I've been helping to run Xenia since 2017 and can't explain how amazing it has been to see the women who attend blossom with confidence, learn about each other's cultures and become firm friends. It has also been incredible seeing how much Xenia has grown and evolved thanks to the hard work of the organising team, pretty much all of whom are volunteers.
Xenia brings women of all backgrounds together to practice English but it does so much more than that- it gives everyone the opportunity to learn something new about someone else's culture, share stories, connect with our community, laugh, cry and support one another.
We are a small organisation run by a small group of dedicated young women who are passionate about the impact that Xenia has- so every penny helps!
This money will go to funding travel expensive for the women who need them, resources for the sessions and helping Xenia to grow and have an impact on even more women.
Check out the Xenia website for more info and our blog for stories about our work. https://xenia.org.uk/
Thank you for your donation! It will keep us going until the 26th mile!
