The Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Women’s Health Programme has awarded grants to the following projects focused on reaching migrants in vulnerable circumstances and people facing multiple disadvantage. Contact us at bnssg.womenshealth@nhs.net for more information.
Real Women Talk Health aims to enhance access to women’s health information and services through a multi-platform approach, including interview segments, a podcast series, social media updates, and multilingual radio adverts in Polish and Somali. It will feature healthcare professionals, activists, and personal stories to address health issues in eight key areas. By overcoming barriers like language, mistrust, and cultural differences, the initiative will reach an estimated 10,000 women, particularly marginalised groups such as migrants, disabled women, and those facing financial hardship. The project will create lasting health resources, fostering empowerment and better access to services.
Photos show the Real Women host Sherrie Eugene-Hart with her ‘Real Women’ contributors and special guests to talk about menopause and periods.
BCfm RadioBlack Mothers’ Matter and Ashley Community Housing are collaborating to deliver an innovative partnership project, addressing barriers to health inclusion and equity for racially minoritised women from migrant communities living in our locality. We will work holistically with Healthcare Practitioners to design and deliver a series of in-depth and meaningful ‘My Health Matters’ workshops, which equip our community with the relevant knowledge, support and accelerated access to the services they are most in need of, in a trusted and trauma-informed environment, with childcare support and translators available as required.
Black Mothers MatterBristol Refugee Rights is offering healthcare and family planning information to women and girls seeking asylum who are living in hotels in Bristol and North Somerset. Many are from conservative cultures with poor records on women’s rights and health care, and their knowledge of women’s health and family planning in general is sporadic. Many don’t have any formal education, nor are many able to speak English. Our project will overcome these barriers by providing accessible information, the service brought directly to the women in their own accommodation, with translators on hand and material translated into their own languages.
Bristol Refugee RightsAt One25, we support women who are street sex-working or at risk of street sex work in Bristol. We are receiving funding from the Women’s Health Fund to co-create a ‘health menu’ which will display information about various health interventions in an accessible format to distribute across our services. We will work with the lived experience consultancy group, facilitated by One25, to ensure the design and content resonates with women and supports women experiencing multiple disadvantage to seek further support around their health, when they are ready.
One25The One Love Hub is a multicultural group of women, delivered in Knowle West, with members living within Knowle West, Hartcliffe and Withywood neighbourhoods. Through this funding we aim to break down generational taboos around women’s health and aim to equip our members, with the knowledge that encourages them to speak to their daughters, family and friends openly with the hope that women within the communities become confident at addresses what their needs are and feel enabled to seek the support they need from the health care system.
Nilaari is launching The Women of Colour Talk Health initiative which is a new project tailored to empower and inform women on critical health issues through culturally sensitive, interactive workshops. Key Elements of the Project:
Refugee Women of Bristol (RWoB) will host a fortnightly women’s health hub with visiting health professionals. In this project, we will use community workers/interpreters who are familiar with our women and have already established trust and mutual understanding. The hub will provide advice and answer women’s questions. We will refer women to attend follow-up sessions at relevant health services. We estimate at least 160 women will access the Women’s Health hub, often more than once. This project will work to build bridges between communities and statutory services to break barriers that prevent access to services and reinforce discrimination and inequalities.
Women's Health Hub - Refugee Women of BristolThe project aims to develop the skills for self-determination and full independence for women from the Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities at Highwood Park in relation to their healthcare.
We want to ensure the work is established with maximum investment by the women themselves, and that we are driven by a person-centred approach. To that end, a survey will be carried out with all the families around their healthcare education and support needs and their literacy needs. The findings from the survey will be used to help plan sessions on women’s health education.
Southern brooksThis is a group for women from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities living in South Gloucestershire. The Group will meet on a fortnightly basis and will offer a safe and culturally aware environment to raise awareness of a range of women’s health issues including mental health, menopause and cancer detection, as well as promote discussions around other sensitive topics, such as domestic abuse and suicide.
We want to support improved independence and confidence in accessing services and create a voice for the community to influence decision-making around health policies. We will do this by:
We hope to encourage a core group to take on the running of the sessions in the longer term.
South Glos Corporate Traveller UnitLearning Partnership West co-facilitates a Roma Young Parents group at St Paul’s Children’s Centre. Around ten families access the sessions.
From conversations with the group, we know that there is a demand for more information about healthcare services. Families are experiencing a lack of success when they try to access healthcare through established routes and they then approach us to provide support and guidance.
Through this funding we’re hoping create a bridge between these families and healthcare professionals, building trust until they are able to access the services they need independently.
Women’s health topics will be identified with those accessing our sessions. Contraception has already been raised as a key issue.
The Roma Group will involve seven monthly meetings for Roma women on a women’s health topic chosen by the women. Health professionals will be invited to present.
Gatherings will have tasty food that is familiar to Roma women and provided and cooked by Roma women themselves. A translator will be present.
