Brick by Brick: The Woman Who Built My Sisters’ House
Meet Julie
Seven familiar women sit around a small kitchen table. The oak lines of its surface are disrupted by tea-ringed coasters on which mismatched mugs rest. The women talk amongst themselves for three hours, directing their conversations towards the smiling brunette who asked them here.
It was in this moment five years ago that My Sisters’ House begun. Over Julie Budge’s kitchen table the original six board members, of which three remain, and Julie drew her plan for a women’s centre. This Sharpie sketch was then used when meeting with the Roddick Foundation to ask for seed funding to set up My Sisters’ House.
Julie’s original drawing of My Sisters’ House which prompted the Roddick Foundation to donate fifteen thousand pounds to the cause.
The name for the centre had been decided several weeks earlier at a joint fortieth and fiftieth birthday party. Julie’s vision was of a group of women, like mothers or sisters, supporting each other in an inclusive, non-threatening environment. And so My Sisters’ House was born.
Julie maintains several reasons for deciding to start a women’s centre. For one, she spent twenty-five years in different careers, including working in the police and victim support, where she met lots of disadvantaged women trapped in a ‘revolving door syndrome’ where they were never seen or supported properly. Julie describes this as ‘A sort of tokenism.’ With Julie’s varying careers she found herself dissatisfied with her job; while the pay was good, Julie comments ‘I actually wasn’t very happy.’
Recognising she had transferable skills, and with her knowledge from previous visits to other women’s centres while in her various careers, Julie decided My Sisters’ House would be a good thing for the area that was lacking any kind of support for vulnerable women.
The first year of My Sisters’ House’s existence was largely shaped by consultations, research, and several confidence courses. Though this all ‘Stopped for a little while,’ as Julie admits, after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
Fast forward to post cancer treatment in May 2015 and Julie opened My Sisters’ House’s first drop in centre at 78 London Road in Bognor. The room measured a mere eight by eight foot and on its front door a sign that read Campaign for Women’s Centre was hung. On the centre’s first day Julie opened the door and waited behind her desk. She recalls thinking, ‘Ok, let’s see whether there’s any interest in it.’
Julie and the team outside of the previous centre at 78 London Road.
A week or so later and Michelle Burfield walked through the door and said she was interested in volunteering with My Sisters’ House. Soon after, Michelle and Faye became the first paid members of staff. Then, as Julie comments, ‘The rest is history.’
Working in that first centre at 78 London Road Julie wore multiple hats, having a hand in every job. Julie reflects, ‘I cleaned loos, put up marquees at events, sat at the front of house, paid staff, organised health and safety, and talked with troubled women for hours.’
Now, thanks to the lottery funding, Julie takes on more of a strategic role at My Sisters’ House. ‘I work on getting money to meet the bigger vision,’ Julie summarises.
The team celebrating the £370,850’s worth of lottery funding in April 2019.
Julie’s current aim is to source more diverse funding and gain more community support with regular direct debit payments. She also wants to increase My Sisters’ House’s profile through campaigning to work on a bigger scale than just locally. Later this year Julie will be visiting the House of Commons to do exactly that, discussing the value of women’s centres in the landscape of women’s provisions in the UK.
All of Julie’s efforts are focused on sustaining and improving My Sisters’ House. She hopes with more funding she’d be able to offer longer contracts for members of the team (rather than the six-month contracts MSH currently can provide) and hire more paid staff.
When it comes to the MSH team, Julie chooses those whose personalities offer warmth and empathy in addition to their skills and experience. ‘Every single member of staff and volunteer brings a really individual thing to the centre. And when you put it all together it just makes for the most lovely provision,’ Julie explains. She continues, ‘I can always see the women who should be working in the centre. It’s in their blood.’
With that, Julie’s daughter Lucy now also works at MSH and is responsible for all of the centre’s new branding and upcoming website. Julie believes all of her children have been influenced by her work with MSH and are more grounded about life after hearing about her hopes, visions, and down days at the kitchen table. She’s also incredibly grateful for her husband’s support which she accredits to keeping her being able to do what she’s doing. Julie recognises, ‘The reality is that for both of my children and husband they’ve lived through every high and low of My Sisters’ House.’
And there have been many of both. For Julie one low she recalls is losing the Clockwalk building where they once moved MSH to. She also mentions the downside of hearing all of sad and tragic stories told by the women who visit the centre. Though, Julie goes on, ‘It reminds you of why we’re here. And though that’s quite hard to hear sometimes, the fact that they’ve come through our door shows you the value of the women’s centred way of working.’
A stand-out moment in My Sisters’ House’s history is, of course, the event with Dame Julie Walters. Other notable moments include receiving repeat funding and the highs in respect of clients when seeing the impact MSH have had. As Julie describes, ‘It’s fantastic seeing their resilience and strength, their authenticity and their vulnerability, and watching them come out the other side.’
Another highlight for Julie is opening the new centre which offers more space and the ability for the whole team to work in the same place.
‘I never anticipated it would take five years to get a centre,’ Julie admits. ‘We’ve developed in response to service user’s needs. But now we’ve got this centre it’s a monumental step up.’
My Sisters’ House’s first external event in 2014.
She’s often questioned at times what else is keeping MSH moving forward, hinting at her belief of some sort of divine intervention. ‘On several occasions Michelle’s job has been one month from ending and then suddenly funding comes through,’ Julie offers as an example. For another, ‘Or like we lost Clockwalk and moved back here, and then we were able to expand.’
As for the future of My Sisters’ House, Julie hopes to return to the original vision behind the name. The bigger plan is for a residential hostel for women who aren’t housed appropriately. Julie describes it as ‘A lovely home for disadvantaged women.’ From there Julie hopes to begin a community kitchen, or My Sisters’ Kitchen. There’s also the possibility of a My Sisters’ Garden. Reflecting on the growth of the women’s centre Julie comments, ‘This is a great, big, organic being that no longer needs me really. I think it will exist in its own entity now.’
The original My Sisters’ House logo.
Finishing up my conversation with Julie I ask if she has anything else she’d like to add, or final words if you will. She replies, ‘I am proud of what I’ve achieved. But I don’t voice that very often, and that’s because I genuinely see it as a big team effort that’s got us to this point.’
While interviewing members of the team for the My Sisters’ House Blog I also asked for their thoughts and opinions of Julie and of her achievements. Here’s what they had to say:
What Julie has achieved is incredible.
She’s motivated and passionate. Nothing can stand in her way.
Julie had this vision, and it just works.
She never stops. Julie works for the greater good of the women.
Julie is phenomenal. We are here thanks to her drive and determination.
She’s chaotic in the most lovely way.
Julie is so driven, so inspirational. Nothing is too much trouble.
She’s just a beautiful soul.
With Julie what you see is what you get. She’s direct, she’s powerful, and she’s warm.
Julie is so passionate. She works tirelessly.
Julie always wants to help in any way that she can.
She is a great motivator.
Instead of just having the thought of My Sisters’ House, she actually went and did it.
Julie lives and breathes the ethos of a strong woman.
This is all because of Julie.
My Sisters’ House is Julie Budge’s incredible legacy. As myself, the team, and the clients agree, from the ground up Julie built this house.
