An ongoing conversation

posted this on 05/10/2018

This week we were delighted to host Bristol’s mayor Marvin Rees at our drop-in. He visited along with Cllr Helen Godwin, the Cabinet Member for Women, Children and Young People.

On our previous visit to City Hall, the Mayor had challenged us to put together ‘five asks’ for change to improve the lives of vulnerable women in Bristol. We worked with the women to put these together and it was brilliant to have two of the women involved. Clio (from Pause Bristol) and Karena presented to them on the day.

"I’m here for the women who don’t have a voice."
- Karena

Our five asks are:

A female-only prescribing Nurse back at One25 – to break down barriers to women gaining drug treatment
Increased Level 1 women-only supported accommodation for women with complex needs – currently only 21 beds in the city
Award Band 1 on Home-choice to women who have had children removed from their care substance misuse and mental health – to get women into appropriate accommodation quicker
An improved flexible approach to Dual Diagnosis for women facing challenges around substance misuse and mental health – so that more women can recover from trauma
More access to the Freedom Programme – to support women fleeing abusive relationships

Each ask was listened to carefully and actions were laid out to move things forwards. From feeding these needs into commissioning processes, to inviting us to present to the Health and Wellbeing Board that the Mayor chairs.