Celebrating hope, recovery and plans for change

INSPIRATIONAL women and celebrating hope, recovery and plans for change were top of the agenda when colleagues and clients got together to belatedly mark International Women’s Day.

The event at Francis House, TLA’s Beacon ISE for women, was packed to the rafters to hear from best selling poet and former Beacon client Michelle Torez plus Annie Butterfield, Housing and Influencing Change Worker for Basis Yorkshire.

Participants also took part in a poetry workshop, exploring their strengths and focusing on positivity, self-care and self-love.

Senior Manager Mia Cameron said: “It was great to be in the company of not only our speakers but the teams at Francis house and TLA who work hard to ensure we provide a gender aware service that is compassionate, kind and caring, that meets our clients where they are and accompanies them on their journeys, removing barriers and providing hope.”

As well as reading some of her work, Michelle spoke about her lived experience of homelessness and trauma, her time at Francis House and how she found hope.

“It was a privilege and a pleasure to see Michelle after eight years and see how she has turned her life around. Her spoken words were powerful, poetic and precise and brought lumps to our throats. They made us all think about how we can improve women’s lives in society,” said Mia.

Basis Yorkshire is a charity working with women and non-binary people who work in the sex industry plus women and young people who are sexually exploited and is a leading part of the Leeds’s Women’s Homelessness and Housing Frontline Network. Annie gave an update on the network, outlining the plan for a more gender focused need for women’s housing and homelessness policy.

“As a group we looked how we could accelerate action, the theme of this year’s IWD, and ensure all women's needs are met. We held a question and answer session with both speakers and the overriding thought was that homeless women need compassion and services that meet their needs and care,” commented Mia.

Caption: Michelle Torez (front) with (from left) Abby Goater, Steve Hoey, Lesley Hill and Mia Cameron.