The urgent need for women’s services in Bristol has been highlighted during a charity sleepout raising funds for the homeless. Last month, Lianne Kirkman spent a night walking the streets of Bristol, trying to find a safe place to sleep.
“We had to come back to my friend’s back garden last night because we walked around Bristol for hours, trying to find somewhere safe and sheltered to sleep, but it just felt so unsafe (and very wet) to sleep in the main city,” she said. “The reality is, women often don’t bed down on the streets, so women’s homelessness remains a hidden problem.”
On the fourth night of her ten-night UK sleepout challenge, Her Fight, Our Night, Lianne experienced firsthand the difficulties faced by homeless women. She met several women who admitted they only felt safe sleeping rough when they had men with them – men they often didn’t know well.
“One lady said she had ‘got her head kicked in’ a few nights earlier by a passer-by when she was in a doorway bedded down on her own,” she said.
“I asked if being with men they hardly knew was really ‘safe,’ and two of them mentioned the men would often expect and ask them to ‘do things they didn’t really want to do’… but being with them felt safer than being on their own.”
Lianne’s initiative, supporting her charity the Esther Project, aims to raise awareness and funding for women’s services. Her journey, which began in Leamington Spa on February 1, took her through multiple UK cities, engaging with local organisations to highlight the pressing issues surrounding women’s homelessness, trauma, and the lack of adequate support services. In Bristol, she connected with the Nelson Trust, a charity providing gender-specific rehabilitation and support services.
“I want to highlight the need for more women’s centres and the great work already being done while also addressing the gaps in government funding,” she said. “Every experience is different, but the same themes keep emerging – lack of safety, trauma, cycles of abuse, poverty, and women caught in the criminal justice system.”
The Nelson Trust, originally established in 1985 as a residential rehabilitation centre, now operates nine women’s centres across the South West and Wales. Its Bristol women’s centre provides trauma-informed, gender-specific support, assisting women facing multiple challenges, including homelessness, domestic abuse and addiction. The trust also runs a women’s centre inside HMP Eastwood Park – the first of its kind in the UK.
Vicky Davis, head of women’s community services at the Nelson Trust, stressed the urgency of tackling rising homelessness. “While this may seem like a challenge for Lianne, for many, it is a reality. Homelessness has increased drastically since the Covid-19 pandemic, and women sleeping rough face a heightened risk of violence. Change needs to happen.”
Lianne found that many homeless women were struggling with trauma. “In conversation, these women were quick to tell me what led them to being homeless.
“One initially said it was because she’s an alcoholic, and another said it was a fallout with her family,” she said. “I said to the lady who mentioned being an alcoholic that alcohol is often used to cover up pain and asked if she agreed? She said, ‘yes,’ her dad had committed suicide when she was two, and even though she was so young, it still really affects her now.
“She also recently had her child taken off her because of her drinking, but she said, ‘I’m only drinking because of what I’ve had to go through and I’m struggling to get over losing my child.’”
Lianne’s challenge is being documented by filmmaker Laura Harvey of Vibe Immersive and will be featured at a conference on March 7, marking International Women’s Day. Funds raised from the sleepout will support women’s services in Warwickshire, including the future development of a dedicated support hub.
Lianne envisions a 24/7 safe space inspired by best practices she is encountering throughout her journey. “We need to break the cycle of abuse. Women leaving domestic violence situations often fall into poverty and homelessness. Others are being incarcerated for non-violent crimes when they should be receiving treatment for trauma. We must rethink how we support women in crisis.”
Her initiative is backed by several sponsors, including Lockwoods Ski & Outdoor, Raised Modular Flooring (RMF), the Leader Marketing Partnership and others. To contribute to the cause, donations can be made via LocalGiving.