Ep.86 Out of the Bubble with Anj Handa, founder of Inspiring Women Changemakers

Some of you may remember todays guest from my Midlife Inspiration event back in February 2021. I interviewed 22 women live on instagram from 8.30am until 9.30pm, in aid of two women's charities. I'm proud to say I raised over £1500 that day for Smart Works Leeds and Motherwell Cheshire womens charity. After talking with todays guest, Anj Handa I knew I wanted to continue our conversation here on the podcast as she has such an inspiring story to tell and is definitely a woman who's found her passion and purpose. There's a reason why Forbes recognised Anj as one of the 10 Diversity & Inclusion Trailblazers You Need to Get Familiar With. In 2014, Anj's life changed after being introduced to Afusat Saliu and her two little daughters. This led a high-profile campaign on their claim for asylum based on the risk of Female Genital Mutilation to the little girls in Nigeria. She managed to pull together a top legal team and started a Change.org petition which gathered 126,500 signatures. The campaign attracted attention from the global media, MPs and even personalities such as Richard Branson! Unfortunately, the family were eventually deported but her fundraising campaign through a local charity secured their accommodation and schooling for a full year. Anj learnt that by gathering professional, motivated people together, it’s possible to make an impact on the lives of others on a massive scale.  This led to Anj founding the Inspiring Women Changemakers (https://www.inspiringwomenchangemakers.co.uk/) Inspiring Women Changemakers inspires women to speak up about the things that matter to them, to take responsibility, and to take action.  Subjects covered- How it all started meeting Afusat Saliu Adapting quickly to the challenges of leading a high profile campaign Female Genital Mutilation- women and young girls at risk in the U.K The aftermath, coping with events that didn't go as planned Lessons learnt  The inspiration behind Inspiring Women Changemakers Boundaries and self care How we can use our voices for good Examples of successful Inspiring Women Changemaker members Finding your passion and purpose  You can find out more about the Inspiring Women Changemakers-https://www.inspiringwomenchangemakers.co.uk/ Follow them @Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/inspiringwomenchangemakers/Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/InspiringWomenChangemakers/ Twitter-https://twitter.com/WmnChangemakers/ Don't miss any of the inspiring Out of the Bubble women, you can go and subscribe at www.rachelperu.co.uk and come and say hello on Instagram! I'll be back in a fortnight, so in the meantime, .... Keeping being fabulous Rachel x (Music credited to Scott Holmes- By Big Adventure)