Goodbye to Jess!

Last month we said goodbye to our lovely Development Worker Jess as she heads off to pastures new. Since joining Jess has helped us to grow and develop our offer for the women in our network, bringing in new funders and partnerships.  

As a result of Jess’ role and the funding she brought into the organisation we were able planning and development days to strategize the responsibilities and direction of the management group. Management members and our team were able to have a weekend away in the countryside and develop a new mission statement and values, along with campaign ideas that will allow WAST to campaign as an independent organisation whilst still being part of crucial regional and national networks that outline asylum injustices. The opportunity to have thinking space outside of our often turbulent lives was essential for us to remain strong as a team and understand different perspectives.

Jess also enabled us to starting having reflective practice sessions, which started in February 2022. These sessions gave us a space to reflect on how we currently work and also discuss any personal issues, with one management group member stating:

“I felt it was a start of a good session, had a space where I could just talk about me. The session gave me an insight that I do too much for others and forget that I need support too. Sharing made me feel relaxed, like some load is taken off me. I look forward to the next sessions”.

These sessions have provided a great deal of support to the management group who have had to cope with a great deal of pressure, supporting the wider membership at a distance and in isolation.

Thank you for everything Jess we will miss you!

Here are some of our highlights together.