Christmas is not only about receiving, but it is about giving. After our success with our money collection for the Welsh Refugee Council last year, we decided to carry on this lovely tradition in 2017 and support another organisation in Cardiff that helps people in need.
Before and during our Christmas party, we will raise money from our students, members of staff or our friends and donate this money and support the BAWSO organisation. For the following couple of weeks, you will be able to join our small competition and buy a raffle ticket for £1. You can buy as many tickets as you like! We will also have a Just Giving page in case you would like to donate online. All the prizes are donated by our local business neighbours as part of the '12 Days of Canton', our community Chrismas blog that will feature a different local business and interview every day as we run up to the 12th of December.
If you have never heard of BAWSO, don't worry. We interviewed one of their employees, a good friend of school and one of our host families, Zuzana Turco.
Zuzana Turco has been helping Peartree Languages with hosting foreign students for a few years, but this is the first chance we have had to find out more about her fascinating job! Keep reading to learn about this very worthwhile charity.
Zuzana, can you please, tell us more about Bawso and what exactly the organisation does?
"Bawso is an All Wales voluntary organisation, providing specialist services to victims (women & men) and BME people affected or at risk of of Domestic Abuse and all forms of violence; including Female Genital Mutilation, Forced Marriage, Honour Based Violence and Human Trafficking."What is your position and your role in BAWSO?
"I have two roles in Bawso. I work part –time as an Independent Domestic Violence Adviser (IDVA), providing a high-quality frontline service to victims of domestic abuse, delivering a service to those at highest risk; working within a multi-agency framework consisting of the MARAC (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference) and local partnership responses to domestic abuse. My other part-time role is to support victims of Modern Slavery / Human Trafficking."How long have you been working for BAWSO?
"I have been working there since 2010." |
| Zuzana (on the left) in her work |
How long has BAWSO been helping women in Cardiff?
"Bawso has been in Cardiff since 1995 and has been helping people in needs since the beginning."Is BAWSO located in other cities in the UK or in Cardiff only?
"Yes. Bawso covers all Wales with offices in Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Methyl Tydfil and Wrexham."What nationalities are the women that come over to ask you for help?
"We are and have supported women and men of many nationalities; Asian, Arabic, European, African and South American."In what way can BAWSO help other women that need your help?
"For women and men who are not our clients, they can access Bawso's drop in advice where we assess each case and then either refer them to Bawso internal projects or signpost them to an appropriate agency. People can also contact Bawso 24 hours help line for advice."If the public would like to help and support Bawso, what the best way of helping is?
"By volunteering for Bawso, organising fundraising events, becoming a Bawso member and in addition, you can also support Bawso via social media ( Twitter and Like our Facebook page)."I have heard that sometimes you do clothes collection or collect toys or books for children. Is there a way that our students, staff or the friends of school can help as well?
"We no longer do collections of books or clothing as we have no storage facilities, however if we need any items for our clients we have sources we can contact."
In your main website, I have seen some pictures from events organised by BAWSO. Can you tell us more about these events?
"Throughout the year Bawso organises a number of events. All information can be found on Bawso website. The upcoming event is Bawso`s Fundraising Ball on 2nd December 2017 from 7pm at Temple of Peace."
What do you like about your job?
"I love my job, I am doing something which makes me feel proud and I am passionate about. I like working with people enabling them to make changes in their lives and be part of it."If you would like to find more information about BAWSO, please, visit their website: http://www.bawso.org.uk/
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