Advocate and Volunteer Coordinator
We are delighted to have Bridget Obi join our worker team. Bridget is a founding member of Baobab. She has advocated with women since 2015, specialising in social services cases. She took a step back and obtained a First-class BA Honours degree in Health and Social Care at Newman College Birmingham. She will plan and deliver our advocacy covid response and help support advocates and women to stay safe and alleviate poverty and hardship.
What we do & how to access help
Baobab advocates give confidential advice and assistance to women on immigration, health, financial and housing issues. As well as information on other projects and services, colleges and support groups. We focus on undocumented and asylum seeking women, and help newly granted refugees and settled women access established community services. We prioritise women who have been affected by gender violence and trafficking.
Our trauma informed ethos is to engage women to learn about and navigate the system in a positive way, stand in their own power and draw on supportive people and networks. Practicing advocates have years experience and are working with newly qualified advocates, we are all developing casework skills. We work with community interpreters.
Our drop in is closed due to covid, but we are making appointments at Jericho Foundation, we are taking new referrals - email for appointments info.
Gender and trauma informed advocacy with
women who are homeless
or at risk of homelessness.
Help Refugees Charity Pot Award
We are working with Help Refugees to continue our community advocacy work in 2020.We have moved to the Jericho Foundation, and are currently offering booked appointments where essential, and phone and online appointments where possible. Information sharing sessions are now on zoom
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Our advocates will build their skills, and work as a stronger team.
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We will deliver advocacy through drop in and 1-1 appointments.
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We will have one group a month, with food, for advocates to share their knowledge around casework with women accessing support, so they can learn and share experiences together - group summaries available here.
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We will get a new database to enable us to store and report on information more efficiently.
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Theres a few hours coordination time to organise activities.
Be Together, Change the World
Rosa, The UK Fund for Women and Girls
We are excited to have been chosen to get funding to run groups every 2 weeks, delivered by advocates with lived experience, to empower and inspire community women. The group will produce a photographic book to take to change makers. Meetings on zoom due to covid.
We raise awareness of the different forms of exploitation and discrimination affecting refugee and migrant women and support them to find a positive ways to live life. Our aims are to find ways to influence positive social change so that issues are prevented from repeating. We have worked with local and national organisations on asylum accommodation standards, and contributed to the national NGO coalition to lift the ban, supported end detention campaigns and destitution initiatives, and attended the UN CEDAW - UK State review on violence against women in 2018-2019.
We share knowledge and experience on important issues through this website, twitter, meetings, training, research & events working with, local and migrant groups, universities, the voluntary sector and statutory sector.
Currently Baobab is a member of the ASAN Asylum Support Network, Hope Projects Destitution Group, the Regional Destitution Network Group, the Migration Forum, the West Midlands Anti Slavery Network and the Gender and Sexual Based Violence Community of Practice.
Akoko Isinmi - Relaxation Time
CURRENTLY ACUPUNCTURE SESSIONS ARE STOPPED DUE TO COVID-19, WE ARE CONTINUING TO OFFER PHONE SPACES TO THOSE STRUGGLING AT THIS DIFFICULT TIME
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Lottery Community Fund support our wellbeing activites.
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Monthly self-care meetings for advocates and interpreters to process the struggles of women they support and counter vicarious trauma.
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72 acupuncture sessions with travel expenses for women who have suffered violence and abuse.
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Travel and interpreter expenses for women accessing 72 counselling sessions.
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3 art workshops with member beneficiaries so they can feel supported and transfer worries into pictures.
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Bi-monthly group wellbeing activities.
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Bi-yearly advocate and volunteer group outings for volunteers.
