To celebrate International Women’s Day 2024 four members of Soroptimist Bristol accepted an invitation from Next Link to attend their 25th Birthday Party celebrations held today at Triodos Bank in Bristol.
Missing Link (mental health and housing) was created 40 years ago, in 1983, followed by Next Link (domestic abuse) in 1999 and Safe Link (rape and sexual assault) in 2009. All three services have been influential in raising public awareness of the needs of women with mental health issues and victims and survivors of domestic abuse in our city. At the same time they have been challenging myths and stereotypes that create barriers for women and survivors accessing support that works for them. Between the three services they had 13,456 referrals last year.
Each Soroptimist Bristol member wore odd coloured shoes to highlight the inequalities that women face daily. This is an initiative from Soroptimist International Europe to Walk In Different Shoes for Gender Equality. The odd shoes were definitely noticed and were an excellent conversation starter.
We felt a very warm welcome at Next Link’s celebration party where Sarah O’Leary played a very moving and inspirational video from two survivors talking about their experiences and how they surfaced on the other side.
There was plenty of opportunity to get to know the staff from Next Link and many supporters who attended. We all enjoyed a super lunch together. The cake kindly donated by Celia’s Lovely Cakes for the occasion was beautifully decorated and absolutely delicious!
Thank you so much Sarah and the team for the fantastic work you are doing to support women and for allowing us to be a part of your celebrations today. We Stand Up For Women.