“Bambuuu: where we bend, we don’t break”

Bambuuu is a by-and-for service in Nottingham and Derby dedicated to supporting Black and Brown women who are experiencing, or recovering from, domestic abuse. It was founded during the Covid-19 pandemic by survivors and practitioners to ensure the needs of Black women were met when demand soared. In this blog, Dawn Munroe —  Bambuuu co-founder and Director, survivor, and practitioner in the SafeLives Innovation team — shares a day in the life of running a by-and-for service. 

What is a by-and-for?

A by-and-for service is built by a community and run for that same community. Bambuuu was created during the Covid pandemic by myself and Marsha, two Black women with years of frontline and leadership experience in women’s services. We were tired of watching systems fail Global Majority women, disabled women, and others who were consistently left behind. Despite our cries for justice and equity, we were not heard, and our tears were not acknowledged. So we built something of our own – BAMBUUU. 

Doing it all

Running a by-and-for means doing everything. We do not just deliver support, we are the accountants, the HR department, the social media team, the fundraisers, the admin staff, and the frontline workers. I studied to be a social worker, not an accountant, fundraiser, or IT technician, but here we are. That is the reality of grassroots, community-led services. 

And sometimes, our strongest promoters are survivors themselves. One of the women who has accessed Bambuuu is our “Shero” because of how many referrals she has inspired. She does not call herself that, we do. When she first came to us, she was high risk, subjected to devastating abuse from a notorious family, and living with insecure immigration status. Today, she is in a safer place and volunteers with Bambuuu whenever she can. Her lived experience and voice are powerful, and her belief in our work is the best advertisement we could ever ask for. 

Friday: a day in the life

Morning: We received a referral for Shaminay (name changed). Like many others, she was referred by a survivor who had already been through Bambuuu. Word of mouth is our most powerful referral system. Shaminay’s situation is high risk: she has been attacked, her husband is the person causing harm, and her immigration status ties her to him through a Health and Social Care visa. 

Midday: Alongside offering trauma-informed support, we spent hours making calls to housing teams. Many of our women are homeless or being placed in unsafe areas. With the rise in hate crimes, we cannot allow women to be rehoused in places that would only further isolate them or put them at risk. Housing is more than a roof, it is about dignity and safety. 

Afternoon (part one): We received a call from another survivor, angry and shaken. She had been too scared to leave her home after racist harassment on her street. The experience immediately brought back the feelings she had when living under domestic abuse – that same fear, that same loss of freedom. For her, racism and abuse are not separate issues. They overlap, creating layers of trauma that she has to live with every day. 

Afternoon (part two): We also worked with Shaminay on a safety plan. Of course, we always encourage women to call the police and emergency services, but we know it is not that simple. Many of the women we support have experienced racial trauma at the hands of the very services that are supposed to protect them. Our safety planning has to be culturally competent. That means building in alternative supports, practical steps, and community resources that feel safer and more accessible. 

Evening (part one): A home visit. We had just helped secure housing for another woman and her beloved cat. She had been homeless and waiting for months. The move was a huge relief, but a home does not feel like a home until it is furnished. So we had been asking around for donations. Community members stepped up with everything from bedding to pots and pans, and yes, even a Dutch pot. Small things, but they mean the world when you are starting over. We also had access to the Circle fund, which helped her pay towards the costs of rent and deposit. 

Evening (part two): Later, I switched gears. We spent the night promoting Pamoja Njia Bora, our culturally specific behaviour-change programme for the Black community. DJ AG was in Nottingham (if you know, you know) and we knew our community would be out in numbers to support and connect. So I danced, mingled, did an on-the-spot interview with a local creator, and prayed to the universe and manifested that I would get to actually meet DJ AG and tell him about Bambuuu. The universe provided as it always does. 

Image: Dawn Munroe meeting DJ AG in Nottingham while promoting Pamoja Njia Bora.

Beyond the job description

This is what a by-and-for service looks like: a mix of advocacy, survival logistics, paperwork, joy, and community. It is not glamorous. There is no big budget, no glossy infrastructure. 

It is calls to housing departments. It is safety plans negotiating protection from those who are meant to keep us safe. It is WhatsApp groups asking if anyone has a spare kettle or sofa. It is also developing training so that our colleagues and partner agencies understand the needs of Black survivors better. It is supporting young women to design events and masterclasses where they can lead, speak, and create on their own terms. It is building spaces where survivors become organisers, educators, and change-makers.

I had the honour of presenting at the first East Midlands VAWG Conference, where I spoke about the critical role of by-and-for organisations in the sector. I highlighted how, even within spaces that claim to protect and empower, systems of power and control are often recreated and imposed on by-and-fors, sometimes subtly, sometimes deliberately, silencing the very voices that drive real change. I also shared why I call collaborations between by-and-for organisations not partnerships, but “sisterships”, grounded in shared struggle, power and pride. Our sisterships are about standing shoulder to shoulder, not top to bottom, holding space for one another, celebrating each other’s wins and building together with love, legacy and purpose. 

By-and-for means we do not just respond to crises; we build futures. 

Why we keep going

At Bambuuu, we dry our own tears and then keep going, because the work matters. Behind the scenes, it is messy, exhausting, and relentless, but it is also community, joy, healing, and resistance. 

Bambuuu: this is one day in the life, invested for a better future for all.