How collaborative funding is strengthening women’s centres

Women’s centres are a vital lifeline for women with complex needs affected by the criminal justice system. They are ‘one-stop-shops’ that provide practical and emotional support in a trauma-informed and holistic way. They are more effective than custodial sentences in reducing reoffending, improving wellbeing, and providing better value for money.

But they are under constant funding pressure and receive limited government and local authority funding. In 2025, National Women’s Justice Coalition (NWJC) and the UK Women’s Budget Group (WBG) produced a report highlighting the financial precarity for women’s centres, despite their effectiveness improving outcomes for women and reducing crime, harm, and imprisonment.

The Henry Smith Foundation and The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls believe women’s centres are essential to achieving fairer systems where all women and girls can thrive. Women’s centres support women to get out of the justice system and improve their wellbeing, and save the tax payer £2.84 for every £1 invested. That’s why in August 2025, we announced a joint £3 million funding partnership to expand a programme to strengthen women’s centres for the long term. We are excited to have launched the first stage of the application process in February 2026.

The Effective Women’s Centres Partnership is building a powerful evidence base on the effectiveness of Women’s Centres, in order to demonstrate to decision-makers and policymakers they are smart, practical solutions worth greater investment. Amid competing government priorities, national economic insecurity, and polarisation in public debate, Women’s Centres need data and evidence that can stand the test of time.

Made up of women’s centres and a specialist research team at the University of Birmingham, the Effective Women’s Centres Partnership is piloting the Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA) in the UK. The WRNA is to date the most comprehensive, validated, gender-responsive assessment tool specifically designed for women involved in the criminal justice system. With almost 200 questions covering areas like experience of abuse, financial struggles, and mental health, WRNA is giving us a picture that is more detailed and nuanced than ever before on why women enter the justice system, and what works supporting them out of it.

As women go through this questionnaire with women’s centre caseworkers in a trauma-informed way, many of them report revealing experiences of abuse and trauma that they have never previously shared.

Feedback about the WRNA is overwhelming positive. “I enjoyed it because I feel I was heard and I told my side of what had happened. I wasn’t judged from beginning to end,” one woman told caseworkers at Together Women.

Our funding will support the expansion of this programme and the national rollout of the WRNA to more women’s centres, alongside Themis Case Management System (CMS) – a tool that provides access to data at the click of a button, designed with and for the women’s sector. Together, WRNA and Themis CMS provide comprehensive insights and impact data to help improve outcomes, tailor women’s support plans more effectively, and build resilience for women’s centres.

But that’s not all. They give women’s centres stronger tools to evidence and articulate the impact they are having, improving access to statutory funding as well as grants from trusts and foundations. The insights can be used to highlight the need for investment in early interventions, ensuring women get the help they need to prevent them from reaching crisis point or entering the criminal justice system in the first place. Women’s centres are well-placed to do this work, with the right level of funding.

There are opportunities for women’s centres and specialist organisations to apply for the WRNA Expansion Programme in 2026 and 2027. The 2026 Expression of Interest process launched on 9 February and will run until Sunday 15 March.

The partnership between The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls emerged as Henry Smith developed its new strategy in 2024-25. It was a strategic decision aimed at strengthening the women’s sector, recognising how WRNA has the potential to bring long-term transformation by showing the impact of women’s centres and in turn driving greater investment and buy-in.

Our £3 million co-investment means a faster national rollout than a single funder could achieve alone, reaching a range of specialist women’s organisations – including those led by and for the communities they support. Our collaboration means we can amplify our impact while helping reduce administrative burden for the organisations we support.

Embedding WRNA and Themis CMS well will take time and resource. Successful applicants of the WRNA Expansion Programme will receive access to expert implementation support, training and resources from our specialist implementation partners, The Nelson Trust and University of Birmingham, for up to 12 months.

Where organisations identify extra costs, they can apply for a grant to cover them. Some women’s centres will be eligible for an additional core costs grant.

This programme presents a golden opportunity to strengthen the impact evidence base in the women’s sector, build stronger and more resilient organisations, and unlock increased funding opportunities.

The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls welcomes conversations with any other funders interested in supporting this research project.

Find out more about the Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA) Expansion Programme

The 2026 Expression of Interest process for the WRNA Expansion Programme opened on Monday 9 February and will close on Sunday 15 March 23:59. Applicants will be notified by Tuesday 31 March if they are invited to submit a full application.

We encourage organisations to submit their Expressions of Interest and apply to join us on this exciting next step for the Effective Women’s Centres Partnership. Together we will build the strongest possible evidence base to accelerate policy change for the benefit of women and girls.