GM4Women 2028 - Dialogue, Deeds and Determination
Our aim is to end homelessness in Greater Manchester. We are passionate about bringing together the people in our city to tackle the complexities surrounding homelessness.
Our trustee Lauren represented GM Mayor’s Charity at the recent GM4Women Dialogue, Deeds and Determination event. Collaborating with Invisible (Manchester) and the UOM Feminist Collective, she led a workshop on tackling poverty and homelessness for women. Here are her reflections from the day.
What was the event about?
GM4Women is a charity led by Helen Pankhurst that focuses on equality for women and girls across Greater Manchester. Dialogue, Deeds and Determination was their first face-to-face event post-pandemic. The aim was to bring together community representatives and local policymakers to discuss an array of women’s equality issues. This event created a space for dialogue to take place.
How did you get involved in this event?
I’m a committee member of the GM4Women Operations and Communications group, so played a role in pulling the event together. When identifying which equality issues we wanted to address, ‘poverty’ and ‘homelessness’ were recurring themes.
I joined the GM Mayor’s Charity board in January 2022 to support the mission to end homelessness. My unique knowledge of Manchester’s homelessness ecosystem enables me to amplify the voices of those with lived experience when making decisions for the charity. With the impact of COVID-19 and the impending cost of living crisis, we’re going to see a spike in homelessness. So I was asked to pull together my GM Mayor’s Charity resources and wider network connections, to lead a workshop on how to tackle these issues.
Tell us about your session.
Representing the GM Mayor’s Charity, I co-produced a workshop with the tour guides from Invisible (Manchester) who all have lived experience of homelessness. The UOM Feminist Collective were our third collaborator, providing invaluable volunteers to facilitate discussion at the event. We chose 3 key topics that affect women experiencing homelessness: period poverty, podiatry issues and make-up.
On the day, workshop attendees were given these 3 topic titles and asked to discuss initial thoughts on their relevance to homelessness. I subsequently shared statistics, facts and stories from those with lived experience, unpicking some of the misconceptions and stimgas that existed even amongst ourselves. We ended the discussion with action points on how to move forward and tackle these barriers for women affected by homelessness.
For those who couldn’t attend the event, is there a recording?
To ensure GM4women workshops are anonymous safe spaces for people to engage in dialogue, there isn’t a direct recording. However, I created this resource pack (download below) for anyone looking for practical ways to tackle homelessness in our region. The next GM4Women event is on 15th of October, so if you’d like to join the conversation on poverty and homelessness, it'd be great to see you there!
Donate today and know that your money will help tackle homelessness across our city-region for a fairer and more sustainable future.