Amanda and Nadia from Women’s Voices share their experiences of the Charter 6 month review day held last month…
“It was great to see so many people from different walks of life passionate about ending homelessness in Manchester. We really enjoyed the event and getting to know other people who are involved in the charter. The open space part of the event was a great opportunity to talk about women and homelessness. Amanda ran a group focusing on getting more women with lived experiences involved in the charter.”
Amanda: “I felt the issue of women’s’ homelessness was being overlooked because women might not be as visible as men rough sleeping, they could be sofa surfing or staying in violent relationships etc and they can be very vulnerable. We spoke about the need for more outreach to women who can get lost in the system and getting more women involved with the charter to bring their experiences. The whole event was very good it was good that we could bring our own subjects that we were passionate about in the open space.”
Nadia: “I really enjoyed the event especially learning about the amazing work people have been up to in the different action groups. At the open space, I was keen to talk about hidden homelessness such as sofa surfing, squatting etc. One of the points we talked about was that there seems to be a lack of awareness about what homelessness is and that there are different types of homelessness people need to be aware of. In the group a couple of people said they hadn’t really thought about it, so it was good to get people thinking about this in the charter.”
“Overall it was an inspiring day with lots of brilliant ideas flowing and plans of action. We are looking forward to building more relationships across the partnership and getting more people involved.”
Women’s Voices is a fantastic group formed through the Women’s core group at Inspiring Change Manchester. You can find out more about their work on the ICM blog. Here is their most recent article: Fighting for real change for Celeste.
Find out more and get involved at charter.streetsupport.net
#EndHomelessnessMCR