Member Article

Women in Stanley to get the support they need thanks to funding

The Just for Women Centre in Stanley, which launched just short of nine years ago to provide support for women that have experienced domestic abuse, has secured almost £10,000 through the Coalfields Community Investment Programme (CCIP), delivered by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust.

Since it was established in 2012, the Centre has become a haven for women throughout Durham that need help, guidance and advice with a range of challenges including domestic abuse, depression and mental health.

Thanks to this funding, a further 44 residents will be given the bespoke assistance they need to move closer to the job market.

Understanding the need to provide interventions that have been developed specifically for each individual, planned sessions will be delivered from Monday to Friday each week to offer accredited and non-accredited training, craft into wellness activities and coping strategies to help to manage anxiety, stress and depression.

As the only specialist and women only centre to offer these services in Stanley, it is anticipated that this project, which is scheduled to run from January to November 2020, will attract a great deal of interest.

Those interested in taking part are asked to call the Centre on tel: 01207 281145. Founding Director of the Just for Women Centre, Linda Kirk, comments: “With a background in social services, when I came out of the public sector I started to work in private practice. I couldn’t believe that there was nothing for women that were unable to pay.

“It was then that I decided to open the doors to the Just for Women Centre and to give them somewhere they could come to meet and chat. Within five months we had 75 women on the books and now we have worked with more than 3,500!

“We also have three supports workers and four counsellors that work in specialist trauma and mental health.

“I have my own personal experiences of mental health as my son struggles and I know the impact that this has on the family and those around him. It isn’t always about the individual. That’s why we have branched out and now offer a really diverse range of services.

“I can’t thank the Coalfields Regeneration Trust enough for this funding. It will allow us to engage with 44 women and to work one-on-one with them to get them closer to the employment market. This is life changing for these people and means they can live their life rather than existing from one day to the next.”

Development Manager for the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, Lynn Utting, comments: “We know that women are referred to the Just for Women Centre from a range of services including crisis teams and mental health facilities. Without this community-based support they would have nowhere else to go.

“Providing a bespoke approach and offering sessions throughout the week means that the service is accessible, and that people will get the professional one-to-one care they so desperately need to move forward with their lives.

“The Just for Women Centre is just one example of the incredible work that social organisations are delivering. Without them, the forgotten communities that we work with every day would have nothing.

“That is why we are calling on government to reinstate our funding. We are asking for a ring-fenced and dedicated investment fund for the coalfields that we can use to get these former mining towns and villages back to the thriving neighbourhoods they once were.”

The Coalfields Community Investment Programme supports organisations and programmes of activity that meet with three key criteria; to address skills, employment or health and wellbeing.

Established in 1999, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust is the only organisation dedicated to supporting former mining towns and villages.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nick Hill .