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