Who We Are

We have a vision for the women of Leeds to be safe, empowered and making healthy choices for themselves, their families and their communities. 

We have been working with women in Leeds since 1988 using community development approaches to build skills & confidence and increase women's knowledge and awareness about health. 

We believe providing a service run by women for women is the most effective way of supporting women and address inequalities. 

Womens Health Matters has gained the trust and confidence of women in local communities, of service providers and commissioners and is now an established route for many women to access services.

We 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. Working in the local neighbourhoods we offer opportunities to develop women's skills and confidence, as well as increasing knowledge and awareness about health.

We use a community development approach characterised by an emphasis on expressed needs, based outside the medical profession and using 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