About Her Voice, Her Choice
The programme will directly support the delivery of Dumfries and Galloway’s Young Women’s Strategy and empower young women and girls to decide how funding is spent in their communities.
We will make a minimum of 7 awards to projects in both the East of the region (Dumfries, Annandale and Eskdale) and the West of the region (Stewartry and Wigtownshire) until all funds have been distributed.
Voting is now open until 12 noon on Wednesday 25 March. Cast your vote now.
How funding will be distributed
Funding will be distributed through a participatory budgeting process, with young women and girls playing a central role in voting on applications.
The distribution of grants (from £500 to £2000 per application) will be determined through a participatory budgeting exercise that will encourage young women and girls across the region to vote on where and how they think the funding should be allocated.
The programme aims to:
- empower young women and girls (12 to 25) to influence funding decisions that affect their lives
- support grassroots, youth-led activity aligned to the five themes of Dumfries and Galloway’s Young Women’s Strategy
- increase opportunities, confidence, leadership and participation for young women and girls
The fund supports direct project costs that enable young women and girls to participate, rather than ongoing organisational costs.
Planned activities take place before January 2027. Activities are free of charge, there should be not cost at all for young people.
Five themes of Dumfries and Galloway’s Young Women’s Strategy
Funding can be used to deliver projects, events, campaigns or initiatives that align with one or more of the five themes of the Young Women’s Strategy:
- Stronger than Ever: Inspiring women and girls in sport, the arts, leadership and careers.
- Beyond the Mirror: Exploring issues around mental health and wellbeing, relationships, porn, gender based violence and sexualisation.
- Women for a Better World: Challenging social media pressure, bullying and stereotyping.
- Pride and Power: Involve, encourage and empower young women and girls from marginalised groups.
- Empowered Women, Empower Women: Highlighting the influence of positive role models and the power of knowledge.
Read the full Dumfries and Galloway’s Young Women’s Strategy (PDF).
