Over the last three years the Centre has managed to offer more help and opportunities to many more women than in the past. We’re very proud to have managed to do this in the present funding climate and without having had to charge for ANY of our services! Yes - we still provide everything free, including childcare and often travel costs to the women who come here. As you all know, the women who use the Centre come here for a variety of reasons: to learn new things; to help them cope with problems they may be having; to meet new people and in the case of our volunteers, to get valuable experience which could help them find work or move into further education. Many of the women are vulnerable, isolated and have lived through some difficult life experiences, and their achievements since attending the Centre are something they should all be proud of.

During the last year however the Centre has had many unexpected demands on its resources, including a legal conflict which has cost it several thousands of pounds. This means that the money that belongs to the Centre (its ‘reserve funds’ as opposed to the money given by funders for services) has been reduced dramatically, putting us at risk for the coming year. We spend a lot of money from this pot on things like maintaining the building; paying for staff or services during funding gaps; providing meeting space for women’s groups who can’t afford to pay room hire; and for our annual International Women’s Day celebrations, none of which are covered by funders. Also, if we don’t have enough money in our reserves, we could be refused money by funders for services or be unable to continue providing meeting space free of charge or at a low cost. So we’re planning lots of different ways of raising funds over the next few months.

Visit our Fundraising section to find out how you can support the Centre.