Registered charity number: 1106861
South London African Women Association (slawa) Limited
Building a World Where All women Are Safe, Strong & Valued.
SLAWA strives to assist African Women in exile in England and Wales as well as in Africa through its branches in London, Birmingham, and Brazzaville (CONGO).
The founders
Hortense arrived in the UK in 1997 with two children. She struggled and went through a lot before she could legally remain in the UK. She had a great church supporting her, New Life Christian Centre in Croydon, especially Mr Chris Parker who was the Accountant & NLCC of the church.
In 2001 Indra came to the UK & joined NLCC. The two of them were introduced by young Nathanael Edwards ( now pastor at Storrington) for having similar ideas.
Hortense has a compassionate heart and love for people, especially for refugee & asylum seekers. It came apparent to Hortense that there was a huge African asylum seekers community living in poor conditions in South London. It was a burden in her heart as many were living without proper housing, clothing, food, no social life & their main barrier was the language. They spoke other languages other than English.
Seeing all these Hortense decided to start a charity. In 2003 with the advise of Chris Parker, Nathanael Edwards, Mr & Mrs John Edwards, Mrs Hortense Matoko formed the South London Women’s Association together with a few other members of New Life including Indra.
OUR aPpROACH
— What the charity does:
- General Charitable Purposes
- Education and training
- The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty
- Arts, culture and heritage
- Development and employment
— Who the charity helps:
- Children and young People
- Elderly and old People
- People With Disabilities
- People Of A Particular Ethnic Or Racial Origin
— Where the charity operates:
- Birmingham City
- Croydon
- Manchester City
— How the charity helps:
- Provides Services
- Provides Advocacy, advice and information
