Dickie James MBE, CEO of Staffordshire Women’s Aid was the guest of Cannock Soroptimists at their February Business Meeting. She was invited along to update the club on new, exciting developments and projects within SWA.
Dickie began by telling members and guests how much she loves being with women’s groups – seeing the evidence of women supporting each other to improve their lives and make the world a better place – the underlying aim of SWA. She told a little of their background – Staffordshire was one of the first Counties to provide a refuge for women, a safe place where those suffering Domestic Abuse could go. This was in the late 1970s and for over 40 years SWA has worked to build and provide services locally in Cannock, Stafford and South Staffs.
There have been many cuts in resources over the last 10 years, culminating last year in the loss of the contract to deliver outreach services to the community which left everyone shocked. What kept them going at that time was the support they received from the whole community – men and women – and including Women’s organisations like SI. She explained that often, when going through a crisis, you notice things you didn’t notice before and they began to re-build on their values of passion, empowerment and trust.
Staffordshire Women’s Aid is still able to provide a sexual violence service for any victim of rape or other sexual violence; a 24 hour help line – 0300 330 5959; a refuge for women and children escaping domestic abuse. In addition, they are able to maintain an office in Cannock, thanks to the generosity of Cannock District Council who recognise the value of their work.
They are now embarking on two pilot projects, each to last for 18 months. The first is called “Ask Me”: SWA will be inviting women to be trained as Ambassadors to then be contacts for women in need of support. One of the main aims is to enable women to build resilience and be less dependent on services.The second project is funded by Comic Relief and is around supporting older women. Where Domestic Abuse is concerned, older [60+] women are invisible – a national crime survey doesn’t even include ‘older women’! The work of Dickie and her team is to find these women and give them a voice. A discussion which followed showed that these two projects meet with enormous enthusiasm and the Club will continue to support Staffordshire Women’s Aid in whatever way they can. Soroptimist Janis Lomas commended Dickie for her inspiration, her vision and her sheer hard work and presented a cheque from the Club to help support the work of SWA.
For more information about SWA: www.staffordshirewomensaid.org