10 March 2023

IWD has existed for well over a century: the first one, in 1911, was supported by over a million people in Germany, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland. Prior to this, activists in the 1800s fought hard to secure women’s right to vote and to equal pay for equal work. Suffragettes and other groups campaigned for women’s equality and fast forwarding to the 1970s, feminists’ actions saw rallying and protests for inclusion and influence.

“You should not let your fears prevent you from doing what is right.” – Aung San Suu Kyi

Not only did the 80s give us great music, with partying in San Antonio and Magaluf, they also brought shoulder pads, power suits, high heels, loud voices and a ‘Fix The Women’ Programme. (This was a movement very much of its time, as today we understand there is a need to fix the system, not the women!) The programme called on women to become more confident, assertive and visible, to “act like men” and “fit in” to succeed.

All this, while still being Superwoman in the home!

This is me in 1989 and 1991!

The Noughties focused on organisational developments. We began seeing more women in the boardroom and more attention was given to wider diversity groups beyond gender, such as race and the LGBTQ+ community. New gender-related research, new insights, new terms, new phrases were all leading to a new understanding. We were on our way …

Today, we are moving together, further into a very exciting time in history, where the world expects diversity, equality and inclusion.

And in 2022.

International Women’s Day highlights and reminds us of the many great things that women have achieved. For me, it’s about recognising women I know personally, as well as those women I haven’t met, but who still inspire me.  

It’s also about remembering the greatest woman to me, who taught me hard work, integrity, empathy, compassion, honesty, being brave and looking after each other are all so important: my Mum, who was a Superwoman! 😊

“The most courageous act is to think for yourself, aloud.” – Coco Chanel

It is a day that belongs to us all. Let’s notice it, raise awareness, remember those before us, who have been brave, people who will be brave and celebrate its presence and ourselves!

Annie Humphries
P3 Derbyshire Operations Manager

This week we took to Twitter to call on the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to uplift funding for homelessness services ahead of the Government announcing the Spring Budget next week on Wednesday 15 March.

After adding our support to the campaign, Mark contributed to a joint statement from the sector which highlights the cost increases faced, saying:

“P3 Charity has seen its energy bills go up by thousands of pounds across its premises, while the income generated through our services has remained static.

“We are a pragmatic organisation, soundly managed and have benefitted from capped energy prices for the past three years across the majority of our premises. However, where our utility bills have been subject to increased costs, we have seen bills soar with electricity rates more than doubling and showing a four times cost increase on the previous year.

“With a further 20 per cent energy price rise predicted for April 2023, this is a gap which continues to grow. For P3 this will mean an increase from £241,015 in 2022 to an estimated £530,378 for the current year.”

All this comes after the latest count of people sleeping rough across England was released; the review found that:

• 3,069 people were estimated to be sleeping rough in England on any given night.
• There was a 26 per cent increase of people sleeping rough compared to 2021.
• It is the biggest year-on-year percentage increase in rough sleeping since 2015.
• Rough sleeping has increased by 74 per cent when compared with the 2010 count.
• The findings end a run of four straight years of the statistics falling.

What else can we do?

Engaging your MP

The statistics provide a great opportunity to contact your local MP(s), making them aware of the issues we are facing in our services and the potential solutions, and Homeless Link have produced a simple MP briefing on the issue of homelessness and the cost of living which does just this!

The briefing note is available from the P3 website HERE.

Find your local MP HERE and send it out. If you are able to add a few words about your local service to the briefing and make it as relevant as possible that would be perfect. 

Tweet

If you’d like to add your voice to the call to the Chancellor for additional funding for services supporting people experiencing homelessness use the tag #KeepOurDoorsOpen.

Or you can use one of the sample Tweets from Homeless Link:

Tweet 1 

Rough sleeping rose by 26% in 2022 while hundreds of homelessness services are on the brink of shutting down. @Jeremy_Hunt, you must announce an inflationary uplift for homelessness support in the Spring Budget to #KeepOurDoorsOpen.

Tweet 2 

The Government committed to ending rough sleeping by 2024, but it rose by 26% in 2022. @RishiSunak & @Jeremy_Hunt to stick to your pledge, homeless services need a funding uplift in the #SpringBudget to #KeepOurDoorsOpen

Tweet 3 

Tweet 4 

Rough sleeping rose by 26% in 2022. Our costs have spiralled across the board, but our budgets haven’t changed. @Jeremy_Hunt you committed to ending rough sleeping. To meet that target, services like us need a funding uplift in line with inflation to #KeepOurDoorsOpen

Find Out More …

To read more from Homeless Link, follow the link HERE.

Here Chimamanda discusses themes from her book We Should All Be Feminists.