FOOTPRINTS Women’s Centre was established in Poleglass 30 years ago and since that time it has always had the issues affecting women of the Colin area at the heart of everything they do.
“There was nothing for women and families that were here," said current CEO Isobel Loughran. "Women were tasked with the bringing up of families, organising doctors’ appointments and such. There was a complete lack of infrastructure here in the area so a group of women came together, they got a grant and built at that stage a new, small structure.
“The fact that local women came together stating that there just wasn’t the services they needed in the area at that time set a standard as to what they required. This was about their voice being heard, about leading and designing the services they need and deserve.
“The focus was on childcare, training, support, crisis intervention and leadership. I know from anyone that would speak about women in West Belfast would say about their great leadership and they really have held communities together.”
Footprints maintains a childcare facility which supports women in accessing employment and training. Due to the fact that it is subsidised, the centre is able to offer this service at a reduced rate when compared to other childcare providers in the area which enables them to support women on lower incomes.
The centre offers a safe space to women with a wide variety of services on offer both within the centre and their grounds which have recently been awarded a prestigious Green Flag Award.
“We have baby massage and mindfulness right down to programmes which support women into employment,” she continued.
“We have always had that progression route right back to 1998 when we were the first community organisation to achieve Investors In People status. In 1995 we delivered a university access course here and now we have local teachers, authors and two staff, including myself who have come through the centre.
The Social Supermarket provides access to quality, healthy food at greatly discounted prices. If a family is in crisis, they are able to access food and a whole range of wrap-around services and support."
“We also have focus groups and provide opportunities for government departments to come out and speak to our women. Our board is also made up of 50 per cent local women and we would encourage our service users on to other boards as well.”
In addition to this, the centre have teamed up with the charity FareShare to open a Social Supermarket in the centre.
Food Service and Sustainable Living Manager, Eileen Wilson explained that as a centre they always try to address the needs of the community.
“The Social Supermarket provides access to quality, healthy food at greatly discounted prices. If a family is in crisis, they are able to access food and a whole range of wrap-around services and support," she said.
“Our support services are core to what we do.”
The centre prides itself on having a self-help ethos and offer one-to-one services in addition to groups for women from young mums to older women.
HEART OF THE COMMUNITY: Footprints offers a safe space to women in the Colin area
“We provide support in a way which takes away the stigma,” Isobel added.
“We are an organisation that provide support but we are also providing classes where women go to gain employment, we have childcare, we have contracts with social services where we provide support to families and children who are under child protection. We also offer support to parents and working parents that maybe own their own small businesses.
“No one knows when families, women and children are coming in here, other than they are coming in here to access a service.”
Spiralling food, heating costs, rent – it is always women who are left with providing that for their children. We are finding that older women are taking on the responsivity of childcare for younger women to let them go out and do some work when they should be in a position to enjoy their life without that responsibility.”
Isobel said that the main issues affecting their service users currently are issues around domestic and gender based violence alongside poverty.
“Welfare reforms, universal credit and the barriers to women accessing support are growing. It is very well known that the benefits system is not designed for easy access and it is getting worse.
“Women are coming in here, there are gaps in them accessing childcare payments and that is changing but the change is very slow.
“Spiralling food, heating costs, rent – it is always women who are left with providing that for their children. We are finding that older women are taking on the responsivity of childcare for younger women to let them go out and do some work when they should be in a position to enjoy their life without that responsibility.”
In addition to their social supermarket, Footprints also operate a baby bank which allows women in need to access to baby products such as nappies, baby wipes and formula.
During the pandemic, Footprints remained open and adapted the way they deliver their services to include delivering food to local families, keeping in contact with service users via telephone and providing women with safety packs which their service users described as a lifeline.
The team have also been working with Syrian families who have made the Colin area their home in recent years. The centre’s Syrian Women’s Group currently has 33 members, eight of whom have recently progressed from having conversational English to becoming community interpreters.
Isobel said that she is very proud of the commitment that her staff have shown to the centre and the service users during the pandemic, although their ability to continue to provide the current level of service is being hampered by increased costs.
“We are struggling with spiralling costs. With increased demand on our resources, we also have decreased capacity because of the increasing costs. We are dealing with families who are also coming in with those issues.
“As an organisation, we are struggling to cope and I think that has to be said. Every organisation like ourselves out there is doing a fantastic job but it is difficult. It has been difficult this past two years.
“We have gotten through it because our staff are committed here but the next couple of years is going to be even more challenging. We do look to our political representatives and government to acknowledge that and invest in organisations working within communities.
“They are telling us that we are doing a really good job, so they need to invest in organisations so that we can keep doing a fantastic job for the community.”
