The Filipino Women’s Association – UK or FWA-UK as we fondly call it, was formed 29 years ago last April. It was originally set up to project a balanced view of Filipino women with an emphasis on their importance and contribution to society. In those days, the little that was known about Filipinos in the United Kingdom (UK) was from the media which did not portray a good picture of our women. In order to correct these wrong perceptions, FWA-UK undertook activities in the form of forums and informal talks. We highlighted not only the achievements of Filipino women in the development of the Philippines and globally but also the admirable qualities of the women of the Philippines.
Guided and inspired by its esteemed patrons, who were and continue to be the spouses of successive Philippine Ambassadors to the Court of St James, FWA-UK has flourished to be one of the leading organisations in the Filipino community in the UK. The regional mix of our membership enables FWA-UK to respond readily to the needs of people throughout the Philippines, and to a smaller extent, to Filipinos in the UK. The commitment of members to meet the objectives of FWA-UK over these 29 years through the many charitable activities of FWA-UK have found wide support from the UK community.
FWA-UK gained public recognition of its importance to society in 2008 when it was awarded the Presidential Award Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino (LINKAPIL) for its services to Filipinos. With this award and its registered charitable status in the UK, FWA-UK is determined to do much more, especially towards supporting the education in the Philippines of children disadvantaged by disability and / or poverty.
FWA-UK believes that education is a powerful tool that enables people to rise from poverty and become independent. Scholarship grants, (Mrs Angeles T Quimson Scholarship, in honour of its founder and President of Honour) are awarded to successful applicants for the duration of their secondary school education. Some of our scholars have proved to be achievers of high academic honours in their class. A former scholar in the typhoon ravaged city of Tacloban earned a College scholarship and recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Education with honours (Cum Laude.) Many others are employed as highly skilled professionals.
A new project called ‘Support a School’, is now in its second year. FWA-UK donated learning and teaching aides such as computers, printers, projectors and screens to typhoon damaged schools in Tacloban. This project has facilitated a school in the UK to send financial support to another school in the Philippines. Through this project, a clean water pipe distribution system for the school now also serves the wider community. A new stage for the school has now finished construction. FWA – UK looks to the future with renewed enthusiasm and a desire to be ready to respond to the needs of the times. We invite more women who support the objectives of FWA-UK to join as members to help us achieve our goals.
The FWA-UK Philippine National Day dinner (PND) and dance was started 28 years ago when no other Filipino organisation was celebrating Philippine Independence Day with a formal event. It is FWA-UK’s way of demonstrating our love and respect for our country, and show that we value the sacrifices of our heroes who fought for our freedom and independence. It is also our annual major fundraising event where we hope that our friends, families, donors and supporters who believe in our work will generously contribute towards the success of our projects.
REMY REYES
Honorary Vice President
Chairman (1988 – 1991)