Interested in volunteering with us?

We hope you can make our Volunteer day on Wednesday 25th September.  Details below and please get in touch if you can come along....wcpbarrow@barrowbc.gov.uk or 01229 876475. 

Hope to see you there, Rebecca :-)

Could you help out at the new Women's Centre in Barrow?

You told us what you think....see the Consultation Report

Good afternoon all

Firstly, thank you to everyone who took the time to fill in our questionnaire and let us know their thoughts, ideas and considerations....I hope you feel they are reflected in  this report.  If you don't then please get in touch!

The report can be viewed below, or if you would like to download a copy please click on the following link:

Consultation Report Summary.

Any problems then please give me a ring and I will post/e-mail a copy to you.  Telephone: 01229 876475

Happy reading!

See you soon, Rebecca x

Foodie Fest comes to Barrow!

Foodie Fest is a new food festival for 2013 and is set within Barrow-in-Furness Town Centre.

Join us in the Festival Chef’s Arena Marquee for delectable shows from leading U.K.’s best line up of celebrity Chefs for 2013. This is your chance to get up close to your favourite chefs. Two chefs, for nearly 2 hours, one ticket price. Tasty!

Tickets are available in person from the forum box office, Barrow-in-Furness, over the phone 01229 820000 or on-line www.theforumbarrow.co.uk.   Tickets start from £10.50 per show with a limited number of premium front row seats at £19.50. 

For more information about the chefs and information about other free Foodie Fest activities happening in Barrow that weekend, please visit http://www.foodiefest.co.uk/.

Women only media workshop 4th June

Calling all Barrovian Women!

On 15th March we held a launch event for the Women’s Community Project Barrow at the Forum.  You can read all about it at the posts below!

At the event we asked participants to fill in a feedback questionnaire.  We received many wonderful responses and we were overwhelmed with how much time and effort everyone put into the event and into providing us with feedback.  It has been brilliant reviewing all the things attendees told us.  If this was you then a big thank you!

What people told us we have used to shape the next stage of our consultation.  And this is the reason for this post!

We have developed a short questionnaire that we would like to be filled in by as many women as possible, aged 16 and over, who live or work in the Barrow area.  If you are a woman, aged 16 or over and living or working in the Barrow area, could you possibly fill it in?  (We are interested in what Barrovian men think, but just not today!). 


You can download the questionnaire at the following link:
Questionnaire

The responses from this questionnaire, alongside views from the event will be captured in a final report.  The responses will help shape the Project as it develops and decisions will be made based on what the wonderful women of Barrow tell us they want and need.  We won't be able to do it all at once, but we will certainly do our best to achieve the very best for the women of Barrow.

If you would prefer hard copies of the questionnaire please just let me know and I will post one to you - ring me on 01229 876475.

If you would like one sent by e-mail then please let me know - WCPBarrow@barrowbc.gov.uk

I am happy to collect completed questionnaires – just give me a ring 01229 876475, you can e-mail them to me wcpbarrow@barrowbc.gov.uk or rrawlings@barrowbc.gov.uk , or you can drop them off at the office if you’re passing – Neighbourhood Management Office, 242-244 Dalton Road, Barrow, LA14 1PN (opposite Inspira and next to The Derby pub).

Can you please send completed questionnaires to me by Friday 3^rd May 2013.

With thanks in advance for your help.

Enjoy the rest of your week, Rebecca x

What happened last Friday ...take 2!!

I spy Jamie from Red Road!  And Nicky from Education....

Well...my last blog post was getting so long yesterday that I decided I needed to split the feedback from last Friday's launch into two!

Here is part 2 of the feedback......

Clare Jones, joint Chief Executive of Women Centre took to the stage, first to show us an exceptionally moving DVD and then to provide us with more information about the project here in Barrow.

The DVD proved to be more emotional then many of us thought.  Clare invited us to hear the voices and share the journey's of 4 women who had used her centre and whose lives had been turned around as a result.  I don't know about anyone else but the hairs on the back on my neck were standing to attention throughout much of the video clip and tears sprung to the fore more than once. 

Clare outlined the plan to develop a 'one stop shop' for Barrow's women.  It will become the best place for other services to be based (so they are starting to tell us...we haven't made this up or even exagerated!) and add value to those services.

Clare told us that the important thing to note about this project is that it has the ability to connect up all the excellent work that is already going on.  it will provide a place for women to go to find out about the full range of provision for them in the Barrow area.

I think you can perhaps just read the vision of the project in the photo :
"To grow a vibrant, sustainable, women only centre which will become a strong resource to women in crisi and distress which embraces a positive ethos towards self-development and empowerment."


Clare suggested we often underestimate the prevalence of domestic violence in women's lives and the many ways in which it can prevent women from moving forward.  Barrow's Women's Community Project will be a safe space for women...a place where they can come for help, advice and support....and a place where they can access a number of different services they may have need of.

Women who perhaps do not meet the threshold for mental helath services but need something will perhaps benefit from the project.  We do not have to look at issues in a medical way - we will be looking at wellbeing as a whole.  We will enable women to make decisions about their own lives, offering support as and when they want us to.

The centre can be used by women who need to meet with probation officers as part of their court sentences. 

We will need to make sure we cater for the needs of younger women and also older women who may have caring responsibilities.

The project in Barrow will be about accepting and embracing women who are victims of abuse, who have alcohol or drug issues, women with parenting responsibilities, and girls and young women who also have these issues and responsibilities.

The centre will be a place of HOPE, it will be where there is someone to hold your hand, help you deal with different parts of your problem so you can turn your life around, where there will be someone who will help you find the ladder you need to climb out of your tricky situation.

It will be a place where women will be able to recognise their own strengths, abilities and skills and learn how to build on these to make the changes they want.

The centre will be where women can open doors to new horizons for themselves and their families.

After a powerful and moving presentation...and after some lovely coffee and biscuits served by the very lovely Laura from The Forum....it was time for the attendees to have their first opportunity to tell us what they think.  and they had been thinking A LOT!!

They had plenty to say!

 

 

I can see health partners, the Head Teacher of Greengate Juniors, someone from Signal films...and lots of significant others!  All had a brilliant contribution to make and the Steering Group are more than a little pleased with how it all went!

It was a fabulous event...thank you to everyone who gave up their time to come along, and most importantly, contributed to the discussion and filled in the evaluation forms.  Clare will be turning these into an evaluation report which we will be in a position to share soon.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...today is the first International Day of Happiness and I am today the Pig of Happiness and I think you all are too!

Bye for now.  Love, Rebecca xx

And away we go! What happened on Friday 15th......

Well....last Friday was the launch of the Women's CommunityProject here in Barrow and it couldn't have gone better.

 

As usual, the wonderful people of Barrow arrived in their droves and packed out the Grasmere Suite at The Forum on Duke Street.

More than 90 lovely people (women and men) joined us to hear about the project and share their thoughts and views on what we need to consider as we move into the next phase of its development.

The staff at The Forum were their usual helpful and wonderful selves ensuring the tea and coffee arrived swiftly and smoothly and providing us all with a tasty (and well deserved!!) lunch at the end of the morning.

The event was opened by THE Jackie Russell, Director of Women's Breakout, and we were over the moon when she agreed to make the long trip from home to Barrow in time to start us off on a rainy Friday morning....and it was very rainy indeed!

Jackie told us a little of her history and her time with Safer Birmingham.  She told us the key to success is partnership working and the room on Friday was evidence that Barrow has it in abundance!  (We told her afterwards that us Barrovians always help each other out!).  Jackie said she was excited to see a project such as ours from the very inception and is hoping for a invite to come back once we've opened our doors....Jackie, please take this as your invite to return!  She also spoke about the wonderful dimension volunteers add to a project and how valuable they are in terms of their flexibility and the 'other' perspective/s they bring.  She told us that is how you find solutions to complex problems and how projects become sustainable: volunteers.....in a few months time we will be seeking you out!



Jackie Russell, Director of Women's Breakout,
stood up on the right

Jackie asked.....and then told us....what a building housing a Women's Community Project looks like........a safe environment, a bright reception with smiling staff who are non-judgemental, an environment that allows women to feel supported...a place WOMEN WANT TO BE.

Jackie finished by telling us that there is a strong academic base that tells us what works best for women.  what it tells us is that Women's community Projects (Women's Centres) are what work best.  Barrow needs such a project............................

Caroline Green, Head of Interventions and Women's Lead at Cumbria Probation Trust, and newly appointed Chair of Barrow Community Safety Partnership (from 1st April 2013), told us how it all started.  In a nutshell (and I'm not often very good at summarising but I'll give it my best shot!)......

• Caroline spoke to Clare Jones form Women Centre about 1 year ago. 
• They agreeed they had a shared vision and a common approach and that they could develop something good in our lovely town.
• They decided to dosomething about it.
• Probation came up with the money for the development phases of the project.
• Clare provided the know how and experience of other similar services/projects.
• Community Safety Partnerships in barrow and South Lakeland agreed they were on to a good thing and offered their support.
• They chose to develop the project in the Barow area of Cumbria as we are obviously the best at everything!! (this is me flowering Caroline's words ever so slightly....but it is true!!!)
• A Steering Group was set up to take forward the project and beef up the detail.

...and then here we were at The forum with 95 wonderful guests.  A most essential part of the project's development is to engage partner's and the community.  Caroline described Friday as 'crucial' in terms of the project's development and was looking forward to attendees views and contributions....she wasn't disappointed!!

Next to take to the stage was Ashley Gibson, Community Development Lead for Unity.  Ashley very cleverly wrote out what he was going to say and shared it with me.  Here it is in case you missed Friday........

"I have worked with people affected by drugs and alcohol for many years now and through all that time have seen first-hand some of the particular difficulties that women face when they are in need of support.  For some women, particularly the more vulnerable and those with complex needs, it is too high an expectation of them to work through challenging and sometimes painful areas of their lives in a male-shared environment.



Ashley Gibson, front left, working as scribe during the
table discussions



I have been at a Recovery Festival in London this week and though the theme was around how to get across the message to employers that people in Recovery are a positive asset and we need to find ways to ensure they have proper access to employment, I spoke to a number of people about the Women’s Project. THE GENERAL RESPONSE WAS THAT WOMEN, AND PARTICULARLY WOMEN WHO HAVE STRUGGLED WITH SUBSTANCE MISUSE AND ALCOHOL ISSUES,   ARE MORE STIGMATISED THAN MEN AND THIS IS ONE OF THE MAIN  REASONS WOMEN ARE RELUCTANT TO ACCESS SERVICES.

Unity believe in accessibility and that anyone who wants to recover or who needs the support of Drug and Alcohol Services can find it in Cumbria. By supporting the set-up of the Women’s Community Project in Barrow we are being part of making sure that our services are accessible to women who would not feel able to or wish to attend generic services. We hope and believe that the centre will become part of the Recovery journey for women who may not otherwise have found it.

The great thing about the “One-Stop” aspect of the centre is that it will be designed to offer all kinds of support.

In Barrow women will be able to participate in the design and co-production of their own Women Only Centre, created to suit their needs and encompassing physical safety, emotional support and practical advice. In maybe attending for support around one specific area they will find other aspects and activities within the centre that could either help or interest them and they will be able to become a part of supporting others.

It is really good to be a part of the initial stages of this project in partnership with Cumbria Probation, Clare Jones from WomenCentre and Barrow Borough Council.

But eventually the project will take on self management as an independent entity based around its own identified needs and ideas.

Unity, and through my role in particular, wholeheartedly support this way of working which supports the development of Community Projects that become self-sustaining and participant managed.  Providers of wraparound services may change, be recommissioned, but this model will ensure that this needed service is not vulnerable to those external changes.

Ultimately the more routes to support that we can offer women and the wider the diversity of that support the more chance we have of encouraging involvement and helping people to use their own strengths and assets to be a part of their community."

Keith Johnson, Assistant Director of Community Services for Barrow Borough Council, was the last of the Steering Group partners to take to the stage.  He started by saying how struck he was at such a room, full of powerful women, a room full of empowered bright eyed women.  He said the Centre we develop will offer a service to those women who do not feel that way.  Keith stated that the idea of a 'one stop shop' cannot be anything but applauded and that the Centre can become part of a woman's journey.

Keith believes (he's Barrovian too...well a Walneyite but I think that's OK?!) that in Barrow we really do make things happen.  He truly believes that this project will be of the ground and operating by November as planned.  He said Barrow Borough Council and Probation have committed resources and officer time to aid the development of the project.

 

Can you spot yourself in the crowd?  I can see
Anne Burns, crowned Barrow's Ambassador of the
Year at the Love Barrow Awards 2013...and I can
see a midwife...why are all midwives so lovely?!



Keith ended his slot by saying that Barrow Borough Council are "fully behind the project and will move heaven and earth to make the project happen".

Following this...and you would think it was some hours later but it was actually less than half an hour.....Clare Jones, Joint Chief Executive Officer of Women Centre, told us all about the project, what it will be all about and what the 'offer' is likely to be - this will depend on what the women of Barrow tell us they need though.

And we had some table discussions that provided the Steering Group with MASSES...and I mean MASSES...of feedback, thoughts, ideas, suggestions....and in true Barrovian style they were all brilliant.

Based on the fact that this is possibly the longest blog post ever I may do a separate one to tell you what Clare told us and a little sneak preview of some of the things you told us in the table chats.

So...I will say goodbye for now...looking forward to chatting again soon....and for anyone who doesn't know, or hasn't picked it up....I am a Barrovian!!

Love, Rebecca xx

Welcome to Women's Community Project Barrow.....15.03.13 and you're invited

You are invited to a wonderful event at The Forum, Duke Street, Barrow on Friday 15th March.

This event is to welcome the Women's Community Project, an exciting new project, to Barrow, tell you all about it and give you an opportunity to influence how it develops.

The Women's Community Project will make a positive difference to lives of women in Barrow (and later across South Lakeland).  The vision is:

'To grow a vibrant, sustainable women only centre which will become a strong resource to women in crisis and distress and which embraces a positive ethos towards self-development and empowerment'.

The event will commence at 9.30am with tea and coffee being served on the Gallery at The Forum.  At 10am presentations will begin in The Grasmere Suite.

All delegates will be invited to join us for a FREE buffet lunch at the end of the morning. 

Please let me know if you are able to come along and will be staying for lunch...we don't want to run out!  Please also mention if you have any special dietary requirements.

Please share this invite with interested colleagues.

We hope to see you there.

Kind regards, Rebecca

01229 876475

WCPBarrow@barrowbc.gov.uk