Why Women's Centres Work: An Evidence Briefing

Introduction

This briefing has been developed as a resource for Women’s Centres, to support their conversations with commissioners at a local and regional level. It is intended to help commissioners, service providers, funders and professionals understand how Women’s Centres can play a key role in meeting the needs of women in their communities. It looks at how centres support women facing multiple disadvantages, including:

• poverty

• abuse

• poor mental health

The briefing aims to inform funders, policymakers, commissioners and organisations working with women and girls.

Findings

The briefing shows that women’s centres provide safe, trusted spaces for women facing complex challenges. Holistic and gender-specific support helped women address multiple issues at the same time.

The research found that:

• safe, women-only spaces built trust and confidence

• long-term support helped women make sustained progress

• centres worked well when they built strong local partnerships

• flexible funding allowed centres to respond to changing needs

• many women required support across several areas at once

Centres also played an important role in linking women to other local services and advocating on their behalf.