Hey all!
As you may or may not know, our Co-founder Amna unfortunately contracted COVID-19 last month and has spent most of lockdown recovering from what can only be described as a scary and turbulent time both personally and professionally. However, we’re so pleased to announce that she has made an amazing recovery! We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who reached out and checked in with Amna and in fact, GirlDreamer!
The point of this emergency blog is that after nearly 4 weeks of Amna fighting COVID-19 and Kiran running GirlDreamer – we’ve been reflecting on how important it is to be connected with loved ones and feel supported when you’re most vulnerable. Now that we’re back on our feet, we want to get serious about the community of women of colour around us. Although we are unable to work in-person with our #GirlDreamers, that doesn’t mean our work stops there.
As we know, food banks and women’s refuges have been heavily impacted by COVID-19 and we want to do what we can to help. So, we’ve teamed up with a local women’s refuge, ‘Roshni’, who are based in Birmingham and have spent 30 years offering support for South Asian women and their children who have suffered from domestic violence and forced marriage and honour based crimes. Domestic violence in particular has surged through lockdown and domestic abuse killings have more than doubled during this time. Refuges are all about safety and so there is an added layer of difficulty when trying to make public appeals. Therefore, we have been working with the refuge to create solutions around how we can use our platform and community to help. So this is what’s happening …
On Wednesday 6th May, we are hosting a drop-off point at our office space in Digbeth, Birmingham. We are calling out to anyone in the Birmingham area who would be able to help us gather the below items so we can drop them off to vulnerable women and children during these unprecedented times. If you are unable to drop off the items, we will be happy to make a few home visits to collect them.
To make the process as easy as possible, here’s what we’re proposing –
- Our office to be used as a drop-off point from 11am – 4pm on Wednesday 6th May. We are based within a secured private building with easy access in Digbeth, Birmingham. Our full address is: Rhubarb, 25 Heath Mill Lane, B9 4AE
- To enter the foyer, please simply buzz “402 & ENTER” on arrival to the telecom and the door will release automatically. All items can be dropped off in the foyer area to avoid any contact and adhere to social distancing measures. We will then simply collect after 4pm and make the drop-off that evening.
- The items that are most needed are as follows: rice, oil, hygiene products, nappies, canned goods. Aside from that, any dry products/longer shelf-life items you see fit are happily welcomed.
- If you would like to support but cannot leave your house/unable to reach us, we are happy to do some collections. We will collect from your door step (don’t worry we’ll have masks and gloves on) to avoid contact and load in the car to take to the refuge. To arrange a collection service, please email hey@girldreamer.co.uk with the subject line – ‘Refuge Support’.
- We will then continue to support this refuge and see what their needs are and will share regularly on our social media so please do keep up with us there after reading this blog.
Please note we will be adhering to all social distancing measures throughout this process. As this is for emergency community support, it is deemed as essential travel, however we do ask that you remain careful and safe during the process and only leave your home if you are not self-isolating, well enough to do so and not in the vulnerable categories. We will be splitting responsibilities and roles amongst the team to ensure we are keeping each other, you and the refuge safe and so each task will be undertaken individually. Please also ensure if you are well enough to leave your home to make a drop off that you too are in protective gear, gloves and a face mask if you have it!
Thank you so much for your time and support with this. Together, we will keep our communities strong and safe and ensure we all get through this!
Love, peace and light always,
GirlDreamer x
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