The Women’s Group in Leith offers a supportive and encouraging environment to build friendships by connecting with women in the local community.
Facilitated by Bethany community worker, Sophie, the Women’s Group is a supportive environment for women in Edinburgh to connect, build friendships and take part in different activities. We visited to hear the group’s reflections on their experience of this community and the impact it has on their lives.
“This group gives me a strong sense of belonging. There’s such an encouraging atmosphere.“
Katie: Everybody’s different here, everyone has different stories – that diversity is really good. It’s a relaxed space where you can totally chill out and be yourself.
Betsy: It’s a group where you really get to know people. You get to express yourself. We eat together, plan different trips that we go on together… We’re so grateful.
Shona: I really enjoy coming here. It’s helping me connect with people and find myself again. It’s taught me that there are people that I can trust.
Lizzy: This group is a reason for getting out of the house. When I moved to the city, I didn’t know many people. I had to re-establish myself and this was such a welcoming group.
June: This group gives me a strong sense of belonging. There’s such an encouraging atmosphere.
Betsy: If you don’t come to the group for a while, Sophie will reach out and make you feel like you’re missed. It’s that sense of belonging. You feel important, you’re cared for… it’s like a family, and they miss you when you’re not there.
June: These women lift me up. They give me support. No matter if it’s a good day or a bad day, whether I’m silent or more talkative, they always help me.
Mary: Before I came here, I was lonely. I had no friends in Edinburgh. When I got MS, my old friends turned their backs on me. So I came to Bethany.
Tara: I was going through a rough patch in my life and ended up getting a befriender through Bethany Christian Trust. I was in a mess when I met Sophie. She suggested this group, and now I’m a part of the furniture!
Jo: I came here because I didn’t really know how to speak to people. I’ve been in recovery for four years… All I knew before was how to get what I wanted from people… like, how to get drugs. I came to this group to volunteer and improve my social skills.
The group is a diverse mix of women from all different backgrounds. Following the theme of this year’s Annual Report, we asked what ‘home’ means to each of them.
“To me, home is somewhere you feel safe.”
June: To me, home is somewhere you feel safe. Somewhere you can always talk when you want to. It’s somewhere you have company. You can be yourself. This group gives me these feelings.
Katie: I left home at eighteen, but I never had a proper place to live. I’ve stayed in other people’s houses and I’ve done a lot of sleeping in cars… I’ve had a flat for the last year and it’s really important to have that base. Once you have a proper base, you can begin to develop other aspects of your life. Now I’ve got my flat, it’s like I have freedom.
Pam: I was in and out of homes all my life. I had foster parents that took me in as their foster daughter, but it became quite a strain… Since then, I’ve been married and divorced, but now I live with my youngest son. My two boys mean everything to me. Home is my family. Home is where my boys can come. It’s a place you can relax and where you’re out of harm… I’ve also had help from Bethany to give me new furniture when I moved into my house after my divorce.
Katie: I had that from Bethany as well! I forgot about that. That was great.
Betsy: For me, home is not any specific place. Home could be a place where you feel safe, where you feel loved and cared for, where you are missed, where you can express your views, and where you have freedom. No matter your ethnicity, no matter your origin, no matter your country. Home is somewhere where you are loved for being a human.
Laura: For me, it’s been a bit of a journey… I left home at 16. Now I’m 55 and I’ve moved around a lot. When my kids left home I found it difficult at first. It was lonely for a while, but now I’ve got friendships and places like this… Home is not just being in your house; home is people.
Katie: It can also be really practical things like voting and registering at the doctor… When I got my own home, I could do all this. I was on the phone to the bank the other day… I love giving my address because it’s always been an issue before!
Lizzy: Sophie helped me with practical stuff around housing. All the phone calls and forms can be overwhelming. If I didn’t come to the Women’s Group, I would have just stayed in my flat – stayed in my cage – and not spoken to anybody.
Betsy: It’s an honour to find somewhere that you feel at ease.
* All names have been changed to protect identities.