A chat with Jenny, van volunteer

1. Front cover
Abby

Abby Dudley posted this on 03/09/2024

 

Why did you decide to volunteer on the van?

I think it’s an amazing opportunity to actually meet the people you’re trying to support, work with them and have conversations with them, which I know you can’t always get. But also for being able to be there for, for the women that One25 supports: you can see, every single time you go out on the van, directly what a difference your, just your presence is making to someone’s to someone’s day, to someone’s life.

Can you explain what the van does?

So, the One25 van is there to support women who are working, street sex-working. We kind of are the first level of support for women’s basic needs in terms of food and shelter. Could be something as simple as a cheese sandwich or it could be a conversation but also there for those deeper needs as well: for emotional connections, for conversations, for dignity, for justice, for connecting them with broader support services, whether that be One25’s caseworkers or external services as well.

Is there a moment on the van that stands out for you?

One of the women came onto the van once and was wearing just like the most incredible outfit I have ever seen. She was like ‘yeah I got it from this new brand, they’re called ‘off the wall’ and we were like ‘ooh never heard of that, what’s that about’ and she was like ‘yeah, someone had just put it out on their wall so I took it off the wall and had it’! And that was always a moment that stands out to me because these women just have like the most amazing sense of humour. In spite of everything they’ve experienced they can be so funny, so thoughtful, light-hearted, and just really nice people to spend an evening with.

Yeah, definitely. So what does it mean to you to volunteer on the van?

Once you’ve seen this part of life, of the world, of Bristol, it’s so hard to look away. When you know what women are experiencing, what they’re living day in, and day out, you can’t not want to help.

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