Empowering Women Poets
“Against all the odds, historically, women have written and published. But it has always been a hard struggle. We are now able to build upon the hard work of our foremothers. The Rebecca Swift Foundation has been an active source of support and encouragement for women writers, with a strong ethos and a diversity of practice. Please help them continue and extend this support.” – Penelope Shuttle
For the next 30 days, the Rebecca Swift Foundation will be running a crowdfunding campaign to raise vital funds so that we can continue to serve our growing community of women poets.
We are currently the only charity whose entire remit is focussed on how best to support and champion UK women poets. Since we opened our doors in 2018, our work has directly impacted over 3,000 women poets, including through our free-to-enter Women Poets’ Prize, our UK-wide Women Poets’ Network, and the hybrid Women Poets’ Festival. Our mission, across everything that we do, is to advance the craft, creativity, and wellbeing of women poets.
At RSF, we create opportunities for professional development, with fairly paid work for women poets and poets everywhere; we connect women poets across countries; and we celebrate the incredible and diverse talents of women poets. We are very proud to work in partnership with incredible organisations that share our values, like the National Centre for Writing, Faber, Verve, Bath Spa University, Arvon, The Literary Consultancy, Apples & Snakes, the Poetry School, and City Lit.
Why A Crowdfunder?
The current environment for small charities like us is extremely challenging. In order to help us keep building a loving home for women poets, we need to explore longer term, multi-year funding solutions. But doing this takes time, and money. Currently, we rely on the generosity of individual donors and a small but ambitious volunteer team. To grow, we need investment so we can build out our capacity.
Our priority is keeping our work going and our doors open, so that we can continue to work with and support women poets who need us. Critically, we know that the thing our community most values is how accessible our offers are. With almost half of our women poets telling us they are experiencing or have experienced financial precarity, we are determined to keep user costs down, without compromising the quality of what we provide.
How Can I Help?
- Donate
You can donate directly to our crowdfunder online. We’ll pop the link right here as soon as it’s live. - Spread the Word
We recognise that not everyone will be able to donate. If that’s you, please consider instead sharing our Crowdfunder with your friends, family, and social networks. Every single donation counts towards our future as a charity. - Join as a Member
If you’re a woman poet and you’d rather just join up as a member, that counts too! Please visit our website and select your preferred membership rate (£15/£25/£45) - Join as a Friend If you’re keen to help beyond this fundraiser, you can also sign up as a Friend of RSF with monthly donations including Gift Aid that we can claim back.
Every Donation Counts
Every donation, no matter the size, makes a meaningful impact on the lives of women poets. Join the Rebecca Swift Foundation as a supporter and be a catalyst for positive change. Thank you.
