Charity supporting Orthodox teenage girls awarded £40k Freemasons grant

A charity providing mental health support to Jewish teenage girls in London has been awarded a grant by the London Freemasons to enable a new sports programme.

The £40,000 grant will help the Noa Girls charity run its ‘Healthy Body Healthy Minds’ programme over the next two years, which aims to boost girls’ mental health through sport and exercise.

The charity hopes to tackle the “unique challenges” girls face in accessing sport such as low self-esteem, poor body image and eating disorders.

Noa Girls provides mental health support to 12-24 year-old Jewish girls from London’s orthodox community. The latest programme will offer therapy and mentoring, along with opportunities to take classes in self-defence, dance and other sports.

They will also be offering ‘equine therapy’ – a form of equestrian psychotherapy with the sole purpose of treating poor mental health.

Naomi Lerer, CEO of Noa Girls, said: “We’re so grateful to London Freemasons for their very generous grant, enabling us to expand our vital and transformative personal fitness programme. We are delighted to be able to offer more girls in our service this life-changing support.”

Paul King, a spokesperson for London Freemasons, said: “I’m really pleased we’ve been able to help Noa with this excellent project to help girls who are really struggling. It’s a hugely valuable programme proven to be of enormous benefit to those with mental health challenges and other serious issues, giving them a chance to move forward with their lives.”