Thanks to support from our partners Southern Co-op, and with funding from Ending Women’s Homelessness, SSJ are putting on a number of events for IWD, starting on March 8th and lasting the whole week.

We support women who have a history of homelessness, and many of these have survived domestic abuse during their life, leaving them with mental and physical traumas they can’t escape from. This year, #IWD is focusing on Generation Equality – which us all about equal rights for women across the world.

As a homelessness charity, we see the immediate impact of inequality on our female service users, and recognise more has to be done to support women in their fight to get off the streets and into a safe and secure environment where they can prosper.

A recent study by Woman’s Aid shows that 11,489 women accessed services across the UK in 2018, rising to 13,787 in 2019. There are 3,914 refuge spaces for women and children in the UK – but only 40 centres for marginalised women, such as those most likely to be affected by homelessness. As well as this, a report by the award-winning journalist Audrey Gillan showed just how much abuse women receive when sleeping rough – and this is something we are doing our best to counter.

IWD 2020

This year we have a number of events planned to give our female service users the chance to feel empowered. With help from Haha Hairdressing, therapists and beauticians, we will give these ladies the chance to feel the same way we all do on a normal day. We are also hosting a special bake-off event for our female service users to take part in – with a fantastic prize for the winner, all thanks to the staff at Southern Co-op.

Can you help?

We are looking for people who can help make #IWD special for our service users. We have a whole week of events planned from March 8th, and you can help. If you are a beautician, hairdresser, nail technician, or have another skill you think the ladies can benefit from, contact us below.

Contact us

If you can help, email nicole.forster@ssj.org.uk

Download our IWD poster and share it at your workplace, or in your community.