Transcript:
Charlie: It’s been sad to see the women from the previous group go. but also exciting, on the other hand…to see them go off into their independence and transition. This new cohort – yeah, it’s exciting to meet them. And the women are excited… The women I’ve met so far who are new to the programme are excited.
Charlie: It’s often being in the right place at the right time. I think we’ve almost just found luck on our side. We’ve had occasions where we’re with one woman and they’ve said “Oh, my friend or my mate – she would really like to be part of this service…” And then we’ve found that actually we’ve been searching for them all along. And so that’s sort of a “Oh – finally! We’ve got you!”
Caz: A lot of the women are quite anxious, quite nervous about meeting with us so finding any way that will make them more comfortable…
Charlie: A lot of the women have, for various reasons, had a lot of difficult experiences with services in the past. We know that the Pause programme is really, really good and we want to offer it to those women. And once they hear about it and once they have a chance to hear what they can gain from it they’re really excited by it and they’re really up for it – but you have to see them.
Caz: Oh my goodness – massive! The hope’s enormous… So many different things and it’s so different for every single person that we work with. It’s impossible to say.
Charlie: For one, you’ll hope that they stick with us and that we’re able to keep them on board throughout the programme. For another, we may find we’re hoping they’re employed by the end of the 18 months. For many, it’s the basic stuff of wanting them, to be housed, wanting them to have a GP, wanting them to have a dentist, wanting them to EAT, have good food, learn how to budget and make sure they’ve got the right benefits and things in place.
Caz: It’s having aspirations for someone – and someone knowing that someone has aspirations for them. It’s a really important thing.
