Purpose and Aims

The charitable company’s purposes and principle activities as set out in the company’s memorandum of association are:

“To promote the benefit of the women inhabitants of England and Wales and in particular vulnerable women by the relief of those who are in need, hardship or distress, the advancement of good health, the provision of a safe place and advice training and support services and by assisting in the provision of education, training and support in finding employment.”

Mission Statement

These founding purposes are fully reflected within the aims as set out in our mission statement and strategic objectives as follows:

women@thewell will provide a creative and supportive space for vulnerable women based on Gospel values and developing a holistic response to their needs. It aims to empower these women to make choices to improve the quality of their lives.

Strategic Objectives

The main focus of our work during this past year has been implementing the strategies as stated in our strategic objectives namely:

1. To provide a supportive space for vulnerable, multiple-disadvantaged women who wish to begin to address their needs and make choices to improve the quality of their lives.
2. To challenge oppression, discrimination and prejudice, to promote equality and diversity of opportunities and to speak up for social justice
3. To develop partnerships with appropriate specialist agencies in order to deliver essential services and extend the core support services available
4. To develop well resourced and comprehensive volunteering opportunities that relate to all aspects of the organisation
5. To achieve appropriate standards of excellence across the organisation
6. To demonstrate the power of Faith in Action through an organisation that can become a blueprint model of good practice, replicable elsewhere

Ensuring our work delivers our aims

We review our aims, objectives and activities each year. The review looks back at what we achieved and the outcomes of our work in the previous twelve months. The review looks at the success of each key activity and the benefits they have brought to those groups of women we are set up to help. The review also helps us to ensure our aims, objectives and activities remained focused on our stated purposes. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning out future activities in particular the Management Committee have considered how the planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set out.

How our activities deliver public benefit

Our main activities and those who we try to help are described below. All our charitable activities are undertaken for public benefit in that they focus mainly on:

1. providing a creative and supportive space for vulnerable and often chaotic women
2. developing a holistic and timely response to their needs
3. diverting women from the criminal justice system
4. empowering these women to make choices to improve the quality of their lives and thus
5. contributing to social inclusion and cohesion by enabling them to successfully rejoin and contribute to society

Who used and benefited from our services?

women@thewell focuses its services on the needs of women caught up in the many facets of pavement culture (homelessness, prostitution, drugs, alcohol, physical and/or mental ill health, partner violence etc). We are specifically concerned about

• the needs of women who are sexually exploited through their involvement in street based prostitution.
• women who have experienced trafficking.

Services are provided for women by women in a supportive environment with the goals of diverting them from the criminal justice system and working towards meaningful and rewarding social participation.