ZW Diaspora Golden Girls

A group of women over 50s who are mainly immigrants and mostly with a background in health and social care sector come together to support each other through various social events as part of building friendships, collaborations, partnership working, retraining, and self-care as they prepare for retirement. Currently we are an informal group of with over 280 members mainly of Zimbabwe heritage on our whatsapp group and over 80 have subscribed to attend the Nottingham Cruise end of April, 2023. 

Most members have worked on the frontline during the covid pandemic and reports show that BME colleagues were affected disproportionately. This means some members lost colleagues, friends, and relatives in addition to being exposed to higher levels than usual of mortality in their professional roles. 

Our social events help to mitigate the effects of trauma as evidence shows that most people are reluctant to seek professional help or talk about their experiences due to cultural & social barriers or fear of legal and occupational repercussions. 

Our events offer safe spaces away from the formal environs where members can talk and make sense of lived experiences as well as bring the community together as a supportive tool. Collectivism is such an essential factor for this group in light of the recognition that almost all members have a connection with the ubuntu/hunhu philosophy due to our heritage. Generally, people fall back on the community for support in times of crisis or as an empowerment tool. Food  & music is so central to our gatherings . Culturally, music is a therapeutic tool that is even used even during funeral wakes, where singing and dancing take place not only to celebrate the life of the departed but also as a healing instrument to the bereaved.

Sharing food give members opportunity to talk about women empowerment and how we can pull financial resources together to enable us to participate fully in the economic space. We are hoping to have speakers from the business community to motivate women on considering career options and how we can participate effectively in social issues affecting the community both in UK and Zimbabwe.