Andover-based Ignite Your Power CIC marks major milestone just two years after launching its mission to tackle violence against women and girls through women-led personal safety education.
A Hampshire-based organisation founded by a domestic abuse survivor has reached a landmark milestone: empowering over 1,000 women and girls with life-changing self-defence and personal safety skills just two years after launching.
Ignite Your Power CIC, based in Andover, celebrated the achievement this weekend, with founder Charlotte Male reflecting on a journey that began with a stark realisation: the self-defence options available to everyday women simply weren’t working.
“When I looked at what was available to help women protect themselves, I kept finding the same thing – classes taught by men, built around striking techniques that most women would never use under real pressure,” said Charlotte. “In a survey of our community, 97% of women told us they would not attend a self-defence workshop led by a man. That is not a minor preference. That is an entire population of women being left without access to skills that could change, or save, their lives.”
Charlotte, who has over 23 years in martial arts and spent nearly a decade working as a security consultant witnessing violence against women firsthand, set out to build something different. Ignite Your Power CIC launched in June 2024 with a clear commitment: for women, by women.
In just two years, the organisation has delivered in-person workshops across Hampshire reaching over 1,000 women and girls: more than half of them under 18. A further 1,500 women and girls have been supported through online webinars and digital resources, bringing the organisation’s total reach to over 2,500 people across the UK. Every single session has been delivered completely free of charge.
The ripple effect of the work is already visible. Women who first came through the door as participants have since returned as volunteers. Some are now training as instructors themselves, multiplying the organisation’s ability to reach more women and girls across the region.
“Watching a woman walk out of one of our sessions standing taller than when she arrived – that is everything,” said Charlotte. “And when those same women come back and say they want to help deliver this to others, that is when you know you have built something real.”
Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and other grant funders, Ignite Your Power CIC currently delivers The Warrior Project – a programme of 60 self-defence workshops for girls aged 12 and above. All programmes are staffed entirely by women.
With a growing team of trained instructors, the organisation has ambitions to reach thousands more women and girls in the years ahead.
“Violence against women and girls is not going away on its own,” said Charlotte. “The more we talk about it, the more we normalise women taking their safety into their own hands, the more lives we can change. We are passionate about using every platform we can to push this conversation forward.”