When you are a mum with young kids, Mother’s day is usually the day that you look forward to receiving homemade gifts from your children. Ones that they have made at school, and/or maybe a little gift they have bought from the mother’s day stall. But this year due to the health pandemic, lots of […]

Carmel from Clancy College and Sue, a Community Worker at Bonnie’s with some of the crocheted items Carmel and a small group of ladies from Clancy College make beanies, scarves and blankets for the women and children at Bonnie’s. Sometimes they leave little messages of love with the items to inspire the person who receives […]

During these times, we have made some changes to the way we work and support women and their children – but we are still open and will remain so. The women we work with are now mostly being supported by phone, however face-to-face appointments are still occurring when necessary. Additionally, whenever we can we are […]

Meet An Le – our Bonnie’s wonder woman who never missed a beat as a leader …and then came the baby!  I don’t think I truly understood what mental health and loneliness felt like until I had my baby….  He came early. I had expected to work until the very end of my pregnancy but […]

I was wading through my emails and came across one about period poverty. It caught my eye knowing how hard it is for the women who come to Bonnies’ to afford sanitary products. Scotland’s government is making a new law for sanitary products to be free – the first nation to do so. I never […]

Toxic masculinity is one of those phrases that gets thrown around with abandon. And all too often it’s confused with plain old masculinity. The fact is, there is a world of difference between masculinity and the toxic version of it. One seeks to smash, demean and intimidate any perceived threats. The other is comfortable and […]

Many people wonder why women stay with obsessive controlling men or how they get involved with them in the first place. The descent into an abusive relationship is often slow and subtle. What may seem like a normal romance to start with, gradually turns into a controlling and intimidating relationship and escalates into a pathological […]

The other day I was at the doctor’s with a mum from Bonnie’s. She was very focused on her youngest child who was screaming and crying as he was getting his bandages removed. Her other child who’s 3yrs old was calling for her mother to get her a balloon. I tried to help but I […]

Family and domestic violence is generally thought of as physical, emotional, sexual and psychological abuse. But there is another insidious abuse experienced by many women. This abuse can be difficult to talk about and its ramifications can last well after women have escaped the relationship. I am talking about financial abuse and coercive debt. Women […]

Often people don’t really know that they have a legal problem until they see a lawyer. They don’t understand the consequences of the problem. And often they’re unsure where to get help. They think that it’s going to cost a fortune to get a lawyer involved. But community legal centres give free advice. The Women’s […]

The time leading up to Christmas is quite lovely here at Bonnie’s. Workers begin to decorate their offices and are provided with an Advent calendar. Our group activities usually finish just before Christmas so there are end of group lunches and celebrations happening. There are also many Xmas treats at hand – We’ve had to implement […]

I was recently asked to write a blog about my experience at Bonnie’s… It’s Tuesday early evening. I’m sitting behind the quiet of my computer after everyone has left the building. As I do so, I begin to wonder if any of the women who had excitedly camped on the floor to ‘occupy’ the first […]