Tuesday the 8th March 2022 is International Women's Day, and this year we want to celebrate this occasion with our sponsored Big Sleep Out event and live action campaign #LoveFromMe.

Every day hundreds of women and girls experience homelessness after fleeing abuse and exploitation. Every day, women and girls feel anxieties and at risk on our streets especially at night and in urban areas. Staff, volunteers and the BCHA community will come together to complete a sleep out on the streets of Bournemouth to show solidarity with victims and survivors everywhere, and to appreciate how it feels to be on our streets with no where to go. But we will also celebrate what it is to overcome barriers and tough times with the reading of the #LoveFromMe letters we have collected from our communities.

We have an exciting agenda on site between 5:30pm and 9pm for all to enjoy! Please see details and timings here: 

https://www.bcha.org.uk/our-services/supported-housing/domestic-abuse/refuge-services/big-sleep-out-event/

Please sponsor us via this page and support our aim of installing a shepherds hut at Bournemouth refuge so that our residents and children have a warm and cosy communal space to socialise and connect with other residents. 

We encourage the community to come and see us in person at Bournemouth Square during the evening, pausing for a moment of quiet reflection perhaps of your own experience of abuse and exploitation, where trained staff will be available to chat and offer support. There will be the opportunity to donate in person and we look forward to being together to lend support to the #metoo movement. 

Track our journey using the hashtag #LoveFromMe and #BreakTheBias

BCHA has supported vulnerable people for over 50 years, helping over 10,000 people off the streets, out of abuse, over skills barriers and onto independence and work each year. Our mission is to help people take control of their own lives. Wherever people feel vulnerable or stuck, we want to equip them to find a way forward, by offering the highest standards of support for housing, health, learning and work - or any combination of these needs.