This weekend saw the first of our events taking place in Portsmouth and Hampshire to give our female service users the chance to enjoy what most women see as a normal event. The events have been made possible thanks to the support from Homeless Link, Southern Co-op and HaHa Hairdressing academy.

SSJ decided to run events throughout the week to make sure nobody missed out. We aim to provide an opportunity for all of our female service users to enjoy at least one of our events this week.

Horizon Project Manager, Nicole, said: “Our event for service users started on International Women’s Day with a coffee morning in Portsmouth which involved two of our projects before we headed over to Southampton to watch the bake-off.

Following this, the ladies enjoyed a pampering session in the afternoon. Today (Monday 9th), four of our ladies are being treated to a wash and blow-dry at the HaHa Hairdressing salon in Portsmouth, with another five enjoying the same this afternoon.”

“There are still many events taking place this week as we focus on allowing our female service users to enjoy what most ladies enjoy as an every-day occurrence. This has all been possible thanks to the support of Southern Co-op, Homeless Link, and HaHa Hairdressing Academy.”

International Women’s Week

SSJ is running events all week, with more coffee mornings and pampering sessions taking place today, tomorrow and on Thursday.

You can also visited our dedicated IWD page to see more images from our events.

Our decision to hold events across the whole of the week, starting on Sunday 8th, was made so that we can give as many of our service users the chance to enjoy what is a normal life for people like us. We wanted to make sure that as many as possible could take advantage of a free haircut, some pampering, as well as other wellness activities.

Because of this, and because there are so many ladies who we have the opportunity to help, we chose to create our own Women’s Week, with events taking place in both Southampton and Portsmouth.

Sunday, March 8th sees a coffee and cake morning, supported by Southern Co-op at our Homeless Day Service. The ladies will also have the chance to enjoy a pampering session, as well as a foot spa.

Over in Southampton, the team at Southampton Street Hostel will be hosting a Bake Off for the ladies to compete in, with all food and prizes provided by Southern Co-op. Following this, there will be Reiki sessions, some delightful pampering, and some head massages for our service users to enjoy.

On Monday 9th March, HaHa Hairdressing Academy in Portsmouth will be offering 5 wash and blow dries to Homeless Day Service clients from 10:15-12:45. From 1 pm till 3, the same team will be providing the same service to some hostel clients.

There will be a coffee morning and pampering session for service users at Southampton Street Hostel on Tuesday, March 10th. Extra help is needed on this day, so if you are a hairdresser or beautician – please get in touch.

And finally, the final event of the week takes place on Thursday 12th March, with Kerry the Chocolatier teaching the Portsmouth Homeless Day Service users the art of making delicious chocolate. There will be cake and coffee thanks to Southern Co-op, and a pampering session by Leslie, plus Reiki, head massages and a relaxing foot spa.

We are sure you will agree that our female service users deserve the opportunity to spend the day doing things which seem normal to people like you and I.

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.