About Us

1. Our Principles

• We believe that health is affected by many things and that emotional and mental well being, social issues and physical health are all equally important
• We believe that women are experts about their own health
• We work with women across Leeds, sharing in the diversity of our communities
• We aim to work particularly with women who do not usually make use of services

2. How We Work

We use a community development approach - this means:

• Women making decisions
• Women are actively involved in the issues which affect their lives
• We share power, skills, knowledge and experience allowing individuals and communities to grow, change and create their own responses to local situations
• We believe that working in this way is good for women, their families and their communities

3. Background info

Womens Health Matters (W.H.M) has been established since 1988. It was set up as a service provided for women by women.

The organisation aims to actively promote the health of the whole person and to provide an accessible service. We work with women to ensure that they are aware of the choices that are available to them so that they feel in control of their own health. The work the organisation does in the local neighbourhoods offers an opportunity to develop women's skills and confidence, as well as increasing knowledge and awareness about health.

Our use of a community development approach is characterised by an emphasis on expressed needs, is based outside the medical profession and uses a definition of health, which includes individual, social and environmental elements. Most community health development concentrates on working with groups and recognises that working together with other women is an important dimension of improving health. The organisation recognises that many factors affect women's ability to lead healthy lives including housing, family and personal relationships and employment. Living on a low income is one of the single most important factors affecting women's health.

Women often experience barriers when they try to access services and Womens Health Matters aims to reach women in the most disadvantaged communities, those who may experience additional disadvantage including age, class, or disability discrimination, racism or homophobia and those that do not use conventional health services. The organisation believes that providing a service run by women for women is the most effective way of supporting women and addressing inequalities.

WHM has been successful in gaining the trust and confidence of women in local communities. WHM has become an established route for many women to access services.

Funding and legal status
WHM is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. The organisation is managed by the Directors of the company, who form a Management Committee. Day to day running of the organisation is delegated to the organisation's Director.

WHM receives core funding from Leeds City Council and Leeds PCT. Other funds are raised for particular projects and include funds from Charitable Trusts. For a full list of funders look at our latest annual report.

Services provided by the Womens Health Matters
The organisation has developed a wide range of projects. We work with women in groups in local neighbourhoods and with individual women by providing support, information and advocacy. For detailed information of the services we run see projects and services.

For information on what's new or up and coming at WHM download our latest newsletter.