A SHIPLEY-BASED mental health charity which helps Bradford women is celebrating after gaining funding from the Jane Tomlinson Appeal.

Mother-of-three Jane was 36 when in 2000 she was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer and before her death in 2007 she had famously raised £1.85 million for charity.

Since then the appeal in the Yorkshirewoman’s name has raised £7.6 million and the Isis Project in Shipley gained a grant to pay for two special courses to help women with mental health issues.

Sheila Asgari-tourzan is the Project’s manager at John Street, Shipley and explained how the £2,500 would be spent at the centre which handles 350 referrals every year.

“We get most of our funding from care commissioning groups across Bradford which covers our running costs, but this money will go on a couple of very special schemes.

“It’s all about women realising they are not alone with their mental issues, about forming friendships and being listened to in a non-judgemental environment.

“The first scheme is called Mindfulness, which is a technique that enables people to live meaningfully in the here and now.

“It’s used widely across mental health services and is a popular way of helping people recover from a range of mental health problems.

“We help women with mild to moderate mental health problems from across the social spectrum and from all over the Bradford district.

“Issue include, post natal depression, social isolation, OCD, eating disorders and self harming.

“It’s preventative work which stops things from getting worse,” said trained social worker Mrs Asgari-tourzan.

“The second course we will now be able to continue to run is called Natural Beauty.

“This helps women produce their own eco-friendly beauty products such as face washes, hand creams and shampoos.

“It’s a great project in which women make new friends across all social groups.”

“We’re so glad to have got the donation from the Jane Tomlinson Appeal,” Mrs Asgari-tourzan said.

A spokesman for the appeal said: “As an organisation we will always continue to provide support to charities across the region, but in the coming months we will also be announcing new project areas in which the Appeal will be investing.”

  • The Isis Project is seeking volunteers to join its charity board and hosts an information session at 2pm on Monday, July 4.

“We would welcome people with experience of fundraising, childcare, business, marketing or legal matters,” Mrs Asgari-tourzan said.