A charity set up to improve community cohesion in Reading by helping the most disadvantaged and socially isolated women in the town has been nominated for a Pride of Reading Award.
Reading Community Learning Centre (RCLC), based in London Street, could be named Charity of the Year after being nominated by Nick Harborne, director of the Reading Refugee Support Group (RRSG).
He adds: "At a time where the UK has been fractured by domestic politics and the world looks increasingly unsettled, local communities become increasingly important.
"In a culturally diverse place such as Reading, beneath the colour and vibrancy of our integration can lie the hidden and extreme isolation, loneliness, abuse and exploitation of people.
"More than often, women are the victims. RCLC can offer such people a lifeline to the outside world, to learn, to meet others to share stories and to gain and grow in confidence so they can engage in everything Reading has to offer, that the rest of us all enjoy and benefit from.
On being told of RCLC's Pride of Reading nomination, centre manager Aisha Malik said: "We are absolutely thrilled and very honoured to be nominated for this award.
Speaking on RCLC's work, she said: "Many of our beneficiaries have been denied education, often on the grounds that, as women, it is unnecessary.
"For similar reasons, they have not been allowed to work except in a domestic capacity within their home. Some come from war-torn countries and bear the scars of their experiences.
"The centre's unique success is to make learning accessible to the hardest to reach participants. We reach out and empower these isolated and vulnerable women to grow their skills, confidence and independence. We do this through learning, support and friendship.
And on whether there has been an increase in racial hate crime, she said: "We are increasingly anxious about this issue. So far, thank goodness, we have not had anything reported to us from any of our learners.