Top: Preparing food for Wellbeing Day at Bristol Women’ s Centre. Above: Graduate Event at the Clean Plate Recovery Cafe.
is also a crucial part of this pathway, especially for those who are not yet employment ready. The aim is to create real opportunities for moving forward and helping that person take their next step.’
GENDER-RESPONSIVE RECOVERY After years of paving the way for gender-responsive recovery support throughout the UK, with recognition from the Ministry of Justice, The Howard League for Penal Reform, and King’ s College London, the trust developed services for women in the community, opening its first women’ s centre in Gloucester in 2010. The focus was on providing holistic care to women leaving prison or in the community on probation orders as an alternative to custody.
Fast forward to 2025 and the trust now runs nine women’ s centres across South West England and Wales. The centres work with women facing multiple unmet needs – substance use, trauma, violence and abuse, mental ill-health, housing instability, poverty, parental challenges and criminal justice involvement. Support is traumainformed, gender-responsive and rooted in what works – a trusted therapeutic relationship, one-to-one sessions, group work, treatment interventions, counselling, therapies, peer support, and strong multi-agency working including co-location to provide a true‘ one-stop-shop’.
Their range of services include SWOP( Sex Work Outreach Project) police custody diversion( SHE – support, help, engage) Family Focus( family support and therapies) and specialist women’ s treatment pathways.
‘ What makes our women’ s community service truly special is that it’ s built around what women really need,’ said CEO
The Nelson Trust was established in 1985 in Brimscombe, near Stroud. The charity offers an abstinence-based, residential rehabilitation programme including therapeutic support and practical help with housing, education, training and employment.
The Nelson Trust opened a women-only residential service in 2004 to help women with multiple needs and established its awardwinning Women’ s Centre in Gloucester city centre in 2010. It now operates eight more women’ s centres in Swindon, Bridgwater, Bristol, HMP Eastwood Park, Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and the Dyfed Powys area.
The centres are for women who experience multiple vulnerabilities and may be at risk of
Over the years the Nelson Trust has pioneered new approaches including its work with women, families and working with multiple unmet needs.
Christina Line.‘ Our“ one-stopshop” centres provide a safe space where a woman can access the support she needs, with whatever she needs. With an onsite crèche and co-location of partner agencies, we reduce the frequency of women having to access multiple sites. We have teamed up with partners such as Turning Point and Via to combine our expertise to deliver specialist women’ s community treatment.’
As part of its women’ s centres and recovery services, The Nelson Trust works closely with multiple agencies to ensure clients can access a wide range of specialist support available in their communities.
A client from the Family Support Model programme, delivered in partnership with Via, said:‘ I feel more confident – having the support has really helped me. I love my daughter and I’ m seeing my other children a lot more, and my recovery is going really well. I’ ve been clean for over a year now – all I think about is the future and I can’ t wait to watch my children grow up.’
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH At the heart of The Nelson Trust’ s work are the men and women it’ s worked with over the last 40 years, whose experiences have driven the exponential growth and reach of their services.
After completing treatment at one of the residential houses and now volunteering at her local women’ s centre, one woman shared that her experience of The Nelson Trust is‘ that it’ s magic. The staff that work here, they’ re just beautiful … and they show you there’ s a new way of life out there for you. And today it makes me really emotional because I have so much hope and faith about the future. I’ m able to do some volunteer work, so I’ m giving back.’
Another woman spoke about the difference art psychotherapy made after years of isolation linked to trauma:‘ Art psychotherapy group became such a safe place where you knew it didn’ t matter if you’ re having a good day, a bad day, or just full of emotion. The group was safe so you could release it, and you knew it was left in that room – it was locked there, and you walked away, and no one judged you for it. And it just gives you confidence again that you’ re a person.’
Eleanor Telfer is marketing and communications lead at the Nelson Trust
offending and provide immediate access to support and guidance on a variety of issues including family and relationships, housing, substance misuse, domestic violence, health, debt, employment and training. To find out more about The Nelson Trust visit www. nelsontrust. com
This article uses quotes from 40 Stories for 40 Years, a new series launched as The Nelson Trust marks its 40th anniversary – sharing voices from past and present clients and staff.
As well as hosting fundraising events throughout the year, the trust is organising a 40-year reunion for graduates of The Nelson Trust: www. nelsontrust. com / events / graduate-reunion
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