Charity Highlight: 999 Club
Written by Niamh Albin
The Women’s Sanctuary: Fighting homelessness and cherishing womanhood
“Women experience unique challenges in life in general but especially in homelessness.” I spoke with Viola Rossi who runs the Women’s Sanctuary at the 999 Club to find out more.
The 999 Club is like the cool kid of the charity scene, taking an unconventional approach to charity with their Members Club concept. Their mission is simple: ending homelessness in South East London. The membership model aims to create unity by moving away from the “us and them” dichotomy which tends to characterise charities. A member is anyone who shares the club’s mission, whether that be a service user or a major donor. Joining their Club gives you access to exclusive discounts at local shops, bars, restaurants and tattoo parlours - so not only are you supporting a great cause, but you’re also giving local businesses a boost in the process.
The 999 Club provides homeless and vulnerable-housed adults with help to secure and sustain accommodation, addressing financial challenges, finding training and employment opportunities, building skills and developing confidence.
The first point of contact for people coming to seek support is the Day Centre. “It is probably the only drop-in centre in Lewisham for people to meet their immediate needs such as food, shower, shelter, laundry and wifi,” Viola tells me.
Next to the day centre is a separate space - complete with sofa, chairs, activities, games and music - specifically designed for women. The Women’s Sanctuary can be found at 21 Deptford Broadway, London, SE8 4PA, 9am-3pm, Mon-Fri.
The Woman's Sanctuary describes itself as ‘a place to cherish being a woman’...(I’m not crying, you are).
The Sanctuary provides a safe space dedicated to the female experience of homelessness. Viola points out, “we believe it is very important to have a gendered framework to homelessness because women experience unique challenges in life in general, but especially in homelessness.”
We discuss the trauma that many of these women live with after experiences of domestic abuse and sexual violence, making it essential for them to be able to access support in an exclusively female space. For women facing adversity, their mere womanhood can easily become yet another challenge to contend with; seemingly an additional punishment to bear. But the Women’s Sanctuary flips the script by not only recognising but wholeheartedly celebrating womanhood.
I ask Viola about their biggest wins over the two years that the Sanctuary has been open. “I would probably have to mention our partnership with Refuge. We’ve done quite a lot of work thanks to co-working with them in our space. Lots of women who were fleeing domestic violence have been successfully re-housed throughout these two years and that is definitely thanks to the good partnership that we have with Refuge.”
Making sure their women feel seen and heard is at the centre of everything they do at the Sanctuary. Viola explains, “it is important to note that all the activities we run are driven by the needs of our women. We hold focus groups to establish what the needs and interests of the women are, and from those we deliver different activities.”
This makes for a busy social calendar. On Mondays they have homoeopathic sessions for their female members which are all about natural remedies. On Wednesdays they have Therapy for Healing sessions where the women can access physical therapy and massages. Next on the agenda is a Stitch Club textile workshop delivered by fellow woman-in-business Chloe Rochefort.
Viola tells me, “one of the things our women have mentioned they are really keen to do is a cooking class.” This of course sent me on a full on tangent, bombarding Viola with hoards of ideas for potential Farine x 999 collaborations. All I can say for now is…watch this space!