The Waterlily Project provides a non-judgmental space for women to heal and grow, become independent and lead fulfilling lives. Each beneficiary is worked with on an individual basis to develop a Support Plan tailored to their unique situation.
Andy Gilbert, CEO, explains: “The Waterlily Project was set up to support women across the BCP area. More than 85% the work we do is to help people through domestic abuse cases and people coming out of those kinds of relationships.
“To begin with, we deal with a person’s initial crisis, and then we help them put their lives back together. We’re not supported by the NHS or other public services, and we’re purely funded by grants, donations and faith-based organisations.
“We offer a nationally recognised pattern-changing course, which helps women realise that their abuse wasn’t their fault, and we also offer an 8-week Mental Health Resilience course. Our two support workers triage all of our referrals, which usually come from GP’s, social prescribers, social services and the police.”
Apart from initial crisis management, including refuge and access to benefits and legal advice, mental health support is a key priority for the Waterlily Project team. Part funded by Talbot Village Trust, Support Worker Heather works with beneficiaries that struggle through poor mental health, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression. Through Heather’s work, a further 20 more women a month are supported.
Andy says: “We offer 12 hours of free support over the course of a year, and after quite a lot of time spent with service users to begin with, we see support hours drop down to things like one-to-one sessions in mental health. Only last week, we had five referrals that were domestic abuse cases, and our Lead Support worker Megan is currently working with about 50 women. Support doesn’t just end when a person is safe, it can be a long process. It’s about rebuilding lives after doing something brave to change your situation.
“There are so many aspects to think about, including family, legal battles, custody cases, and finance, but we stand by women throughout the process. For example, we have befrienders who often attend court and we have solicitors that we work with for legal aid. Some of our staff and volunteers do have lived experience of domestic abuse.”
The service also helps people like Rose, a Café volunteer and former beneficiary, who struggled with the loss of her husband. She says: “When you’ve got a partner, you go through life together and it’s easier. Before my husband passed away in December 2017, we’d been together all the time. I didn’t have any family so when he died, I really hit rock-bottom.
“One of my friends told me that I should look at the Water Lily Project and their ‘Chatty Tables’ social sessions. At first, I wasn’t sure, but the Café Manager kept getting me involved, sweeping floors and cleaning, and now I basically live here!
“Water Lily came to me at exactly the right time. Without it, and without Megan’s support, I don’t know what I’d have done – I was so depressed and miserable. Since working here, I’ve seen people go from real lows to blossoming, and it’s why I give up a lot my time to help out.”
The Water Lily Project is a unique service, offering a year’s free support, and further social sessions in craft and garden groups, cooking, and day trips. The charity’s Café helps to integrate women back into community settings through its friendly and safe environment, and also helps young people from Autism Unlimited to learn more about hospitality work.
Speaking about future growth, Andy says: “Our waiting list is based on priority needs, and we look at the risks that a person is under in determining how we can help. For the moment, our focus is on strengthening our offering here at Christchurch to help as many people as we can but ultimately, I’d like to see us take on even more Support Workers and develop drop-in services in other spaces across the BCP area.”
Read more at: www.waterlilyproject.org.uk
"Water Lily came to me at exactly the right time. Without it, and without Megan’s support, I don’t know what I’d have done – I was so depressed and miserable.
"Since working here, I’ve seen people go from real lows to blossoming, and it’s why I give up a lot my time to help out."
— Rose, Cafe Volunteer and former Beneficiary
