Month: June 2021

    We must not let the health needs of women experiencing homelessness be forgotten

    We recently submitted our joint recommendations to the Government’s public consultation on England’s first Women’s Health Strategy alongside Crisis, Groundswell and Homeless Link. In this blog Emma Cookson, our Senior Policy and Public Affairs Officer, explains why health for women experiencing homelessness is such an important issue.

    The average age of death for women sleeping rough or living in emergency accommodation is just 43 years old – that’s nearly 40 years younger than women in the general population.

    These numbers reflect the devastating reality that in far too many cases, the health needs of women experiencing or at risk of homelessness are too often forgotten.

    The Government recently held a public consultation on their women’s health strategy. And, working together with Crisis, Groundswell and Homeless Link, we submitted a series of recommendations to make sure that our clients’ needs are brought to the forefront.

     

    Hidden from help

    Our experience as a leading service provider shows us how inextricably linked homelessness and health are. In 2021, 81% of women in St Mungo’s housing-related support services had a mental health support need, 49% had a drug support need, and 57% had a physical health support need.

    It’s also important to recognise that women’s experiences of homelessness – and the traumas they face – are vastly different from men’s. Their trauma is often rooted in gender-based violence and abuse. A 2015 study from Ireland found that as many as 92% of homeless women had experienced violence or abuse during their lifetime.

    Many women are hidden whilst homeless or rough sleeping. They find secluded sleep sites or may be forced to stay with strangers who expect sex in return for shelter.

    Hiding from harm means that women are also hidden from help. They are missing from homelessness services and statistically invisible, but the problems they’re facing are considerable.

    Despite all of this, there aren’t enough homelessness services that cater specifically to the needs of women. In 2019, only ten percent of accommodation services in England provided women-only accommodation.

     

    Trapped in a cycle

    How can women feel safe in healthcare settings when they are constantly facing reminders of their experiences of violence and abuse?

    We know that trauma and abuse can impact women’s attitudes and experiences when dealing with support and mental health services. It can leave women trapped in a cycle of homelessness and poor health as their problems are aggravated.

    Women recovering from domestic abuse might struggle to feel comfortable in services which are mostly male-dominated. Some of our clients are also known to be involved in selling or exchanging sex, which can place them at greater risk of physical harm and sexual health issues, including sexual violence. Some women might also feel too ashamed or embarrassed to engage with support.

     

    Grief, shame and guilt

    Another big challenge is supporting women in discussions and decision-making around childcare. Feelings of shame and stigma can make it harder for women to access contraceptives.

    Not to mention the complex feelings surrounding decisions to continue with an unplanned pregnancy in challenging circumstances, coupled with potential judgement from others.

    For many women experiencing homelessness, a lack of support means they are separated from their children permanently – a situation of unimaginable grief, shame and guilt, which can alienate them even further from health and support services.

    All of this highlights why it was so important for us as homeless organisations to make a submission to this strategy, to share the knowledge and experience from our clients’ lived experience and that we have gained working on the frontline.

    These are the main points we included:

    • We need the Government’s Women’s Health Strategy to recognise and meet the needs of women experiencing homelessness, and engage directly with women with lived experience of homelessness and rough sleeping.
    • There needs to be adequate funding for women’s specialist services across the country, including provision of accommodation. Providing the right accommodation is a health intervention in itself – along with women-only services and drop-in sessions in mixed provision being available in every local area.
    • The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to provide increased long-term funding and additional training so services can offer better support for women with complex needs who are trying to sustain or gain access to their children.
    • We need health and homelessness services to be trauma and psychologically informed.
    • Better research into women’s homelessness and data collection to build a clear picture of the problems around women’s homelessness and healthcare.

     

    Women’s lives depend on a Women’s Health Strategy that meets the needs of women experiencing homelessness. Funding is needed so that these women aren’t forgotten or side-lined, even within the homelessness sector. And a focus on women’s health is needed now more than ever.

    Volunteering in emergency accommodation during the Covid-19 pandemic

    Stuart describes his rewarding experience of volunteering with people housed in emergency hotel accommodation during the pandemic.

    Having previously spent close to 15 years working overseas with British health NGOs and the United Nations in critical emergency situations, I never could have envisaged the situation that would unfold in the UK just over one year ago as the pandemic took hold. Those working conditions with which I had become familiar elsewhere were now a part of UK daily life: vulnerable communities, breakdowns in supply chains, restrictions on movements and personal freedoms coupled with national uncertainty, fear, and anxiety.

    At the onset of the pandemic, a call went out from the British Red Cross with whom I have been involved for the last two years, seeking volunteers to assist St Mungo’s with the Everyone In response that was accommodating rough sleepers across a number of hotels in London. Having had a long-term interest in the issue and causes of homelessness dating back to my time at university, I was keen to sign up!

    My role supporting the team and vulnerable people

    Those first few visits to the Limehouse hotel, where up to 150 people were being accommodated and supported by Mungo’s, were quite surreal. Travelling in an empty carriage on the DLR through a deserted Canary Wharf is something that will stay with me for a long time and certainly brought home the deadly threat facing the country.

    Working conditions too were adapted to this new environment with personal protective equipment now a requirement. Whereas in my previous working life, PPE had consisted of the need for 12kg body armour in Gaza, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, this time around it took the form of masks, gloves and gowns as well as the need for two metre spacing and the constant wiping down of public surfaces. I initially found masks to be quite an intrusive barrier to communications with clients and colleagues however, as always, one adapts.

    Since starting at Limehouse towards the end of April 2020, I have also worked at a hotel in Leyton and most recently Greenwich. This has typically involved one full day a week or more recently two half- day shifts. The work is predictable but essential! As a result of Covid-19 requirements, communal indoors eating is obviously no longer possible. My principle role along with those of the other volunteers is very much focussed on the provision of the daily meals which involves going from room-to- room three times daily and providing pre-prepared food to the clients.

    Outside of the food runs, the main task is to act as an interface with the clients for basic requests, so that the St Mungo’s team can be left to get on with the all-important casework. Everyone In has provided St Mungo’s with a great opportunity to get clients’ lives back on track, whether this is through the ability to look at longer-term housing options as well as connecting with health and dental services and the benefits system and Home Office. The presence of volunteers in the hotels allows the full-time staff the time to focus on sustainable solutions for the individual clients.

    There have been so many highlights of this experience in the last year. Where do I start? Arriving on a shift to learn that one of the clients that you have been supporting for a number of months has found a place to live. Being part of a team of dedicated volunteers and staff seeking to – and succeeding in – making tangible improvements to the life quality of some of the more marginal and vulnerable individuals within our communities. The surprise of learning that I had been nominated by my peers for the Marsh Award!

    Find out more about volunteering at St Mungo’s here.

    Volunteering to inspire people creatively

    In this blog, our award-winning volunteer, Emma discusses her role as a Creative Writing Facilitator for the St Mungo’s Recovery College and why she recommends volunteering to everyone.

    A bit about me…

    I am a creative writing facilitator for St Mungo’s Recovery College, which I’ve been doing for two and a half years. Before lockdown I facilitated a two-hour session in London every week, then after the first lockdown hit we converted that to an online session twice a week for about three months, and now once a week, on Tuesdays from 11am to1.15pm

    How did I start volunteering?

    Long story! I went to university as an adult and gained a creative writing degree. When I graduated, I started volunteering facilitating creative writing workshops for charities including the 999 Club in Deptford and Salvation Army. Then I worked in a prison full time. My job at the prison had nothing to do with creative writing and my mental health suffered as a result. I had to get back to doing what I was good at, and what I enjoyed. A friend of mine had done some volunteering at the St Mungo’s Recovery College (now the Digital Recovery College) and recommended it. He introduced me so that I could begin to get back on track.

    Every week is different.

    I don’t follow a specific curriculum, I offer prompts to inspire writing. It could be music, stories, items, images – because we’re online at the moment students are able to collect items from their own space to write about which is great. I simply concentrate on providing a safe, nurturing space for students to express themselves freely.

    I don’t call myself a tutor as I don’t believe creative writing can be taught. I call myself a facilitator; I provide students with the space to express the voice that belongs to them – you can’t ‘teach’ that.

    Students sign up for the class at the start of term (the Recovery College usually has four terms a year) but then numbers will vary week to week. Last year we had 11-14 people attending on average, sometimes up to 20. Recently we’ve been starting our sessions with a dance which has brought a lot of joy and positive energy. We also do occasional meditations, which again is a benefit of being online. I wouldn’t suggest this in person because some students may not feel comfortable closing their eyes in public. Many students have expressed how much they enjoy meditating together.

    The rewards are indescribable.

    We’re so much more than just a writing class – we are a gathering of beautiful human beings. I wouldn’t name it a therapeutic or wellbeing workshop, but there is that essence to it because we are coming together and communicating from our hearts and souls.

    The students give me so much; their ability to show up, their vulnerability, their bravery, how truthful they are in their writing. And I have the privilege of hearing all their voices!

    To anyone thinking about volunteering, I’d say, ‘go for it’, you have nothing to lose. Be open. It’s not just about what you give… you get back what you give ten-fold.

    Find out more about volunteering at St Mungo’s here.

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