Welcome to the Scottish Third Sector Women’s Network

Scotland has a rich and vibrant third sector, made up of diverse organisations tackling a wide range of issues. During the COVID-19 crisis, their vital contributions have supported our communities and shown the sector has never been more needed.

What’s also notable is that this crucial workforce is predominantly made up of women; figures estimate women represent 70.3% of the overall workforce of Scottish charities (SCVO, 2018). Despite this, a stubborn gender pay gap still exists and women are under-represented at senior management and Chief Executive level (ACOSVO, 2016). This is even more stark when focusing on particular groups of women, including those from Black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities and those with a disability. We have a long way to go until the sector is truly inclusive and equal.

There has also been a distinct lack of spaces for women in the voluntary sector to come together. Opportunities for women leaders to network and support each other have been very welcome. But similar spaces have not been provided for less senior, aspiring women in the sector — until recently.

The Scottish Third Sector Women’s Network was established two years ago to address this gap, providing a peer support network for self-identifying women in the sector, manager level and below. The network is run by volunteers from a range of third sector organisations in Scotland and has three main aims:

1. Networking: creating a space for discussing issues, sharing common experiences, solidarity and supporting each other; and as an opportunity to make new friends, get to know more women in the sector, and build professional networks.

2. Learning: providing a chance to discuss practical solutions to specific problems, to receive and offer advice, and to share good practice; and as an opportunity for upskilling sessions, knowledge-sharing, and peer-to-peer learning.

3. Campaigning: offering a forum to discuss and tackle sector-wide gender issues and have our experiences heard and improved upon by the sector and beyond.

Since the network was launched, we have run a series of successful events on a huge range of topics from wellbeing and resilience to public speaking to life coaching. We have also set up a joint mentoring scheme with ACOSVO, matching women in leadership positions with rising women in the sector to provide support, guidance and practical help. Yet there’s so much more we can and should do, working alongside our members to ensure our sector supports women, listens to their experiences and enables them to thrive.

Our network is open to any self-identifying woman, manager level and below, who works in the Scottish third sector and we are always looking to grow our membership. Please follow us on Twitter, join our LinkedIn group and feel free to contact us by email for more information: thirdsectorwomensnetwork@gmail.com

As a member-driven network, we’d love to hear from you and your priorities for the network. Roll on 2021…