Reach Her Foundation home

About us

Reach Her Foundation is a registered charity (Charity No. 1213837) based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. We support women aged 18+ who are underserved, low-income and from diverse communities.

A diverse group of women standing together outside a community centre

Mission Statement

A woman speaking warmly to a small group in a community room

Our Mission

To improve the physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing of vulnerable women in Southend.

Our Vision

A healthier, stronger and more connected community where women are supported to learn, lead and thrive.

A place of belonging and acceptance

Here for her

Two women sitting together, one comforting the other

Our aim is to address health inequalities and loneliness, while providing practical support, education and opportunities to help women reach their full potential.

Reach Her exists for women who have found that the support on offer elsewhere did not fit the way they live — because of cost, language, caring responsibilities, or simply never being asked what they needed.

Sessions run close to home and at times that fit around work and family. Health, wellbeing and skills are handled together rather than passed between separate services, and the same faces are there week to week.

As things begin to settle, she takes part with more confidence — building skills, finding her footing, and discovering she can do more than she expected.

We support women who may be experiencing:

  • Social isolation
  • Financial hardship
  • Health inequalities
  • Emotional distress
  • Domestic abuse
A group of women walking together through a park on an autumn morning

A different kind of support

  • Real support

    Practical help with the things that make daily life harder, not advice from a distance.

  • Practical skills

    Cooking, budgeting and confidence you can use the same week you learn it.

  • Brighter futures

    A community you stay part of long after the six weeks are over.

How Reach Her began

Built around the women it serves

An older woman talking with two younger women around a table

Reach Her began with a simple observation: the women in Southend who needed support most were the ones least often asked what would actually help.

It started small — a handful of women meeting in a borrowed room, sharing what they knew and looking out for one another. The intention was clear from the beginning: bring the support to her, rather than expecting her to travel to find it.

Today Reach Her Foundation is a registered charity, number 1213837, working across Southend-on-Sea, Essex. What has not changed is the purpose: a place where she is understood, and where her strengths are recognised.

What has shaped us:

  • A belief that every woman's potential deserves to be recognised
  • A focus on adapting the support, not the person
  • A commitment to changing as the needs around us change

Supporting women in Southend since

20XX

Guided by our values

What this looks like day to day

Women sitting together in a circle during a group session

Our values sit underneath everything at Reach Her, shaping both the work and the way it is carried out each day.

There is a strong belief that every woman has her own strengths and deserves to be treated with respect. That belief guides how our team speaks to her, how difficulties are worked through, and how the wider community is brought in.

You will see it in the tone of a session, in how questions are answered without judgement, and in how differences are understood rather than corrected.

For her, this creates something steady and consistent — a place where she is heard and respected, and can begin to feel more comfortable being herself.

Support · Empower · Reach Her

  • Every woman is treated with respect, whatever she arrives with
  • A calm, patient approach to difficulty and problem-solving
  • A community where differences are understood and valued

Our team

The people working alongside her

Three women talking together in a community room

We take the time to understand her

Our team brings together practical knowledge and a great deal of care. Session leads, volunteers and peer supporters work in close partnership so that she can find her footing and take part fully. By sharing what they learn and keeping a consistent presence week to week, they make the support feel personal rather than processed.

Our Team

  • A session lead talking with a woman at a community centre

    Session leads

  • Two women talking supportively side by side

    Peer supporters

  • Volunteers setting up a community room before a session

    Volunteers

Setting a new direction

A woman looking out of a window with a thoughtful expression

Growing what already works

Reach Her has always changed shape to keep meeting the needs of the women around it, and that work continues. We are strengthening the foundation through better-evidenced sessions, ongoing training for our team, and a long-term commitment to reaching more women across Southend.

Your support helps us create lasting change.

Two women's hands resting over a notebook and a cup of tea

  • Women aged 18+

    Single mothers, low-income families, women experiencing isolation, unemployed women and those facing health inequalities.

  • Expected beneficiaries

    40 – 60 women directly supported through our programmes.

  • Our charity details

    Reach Her Foundation, charity no. 1213837, Southend-on-Sea, Essex.

Our Philosophy

Women sharing a meal together at the end of a session

Reach Her Foundation is a community built on trust between the women we work with, their families, our session leads, peer supporters and volunteers.

The women who come to Reach Her have often been let down by services that were not designed with them in mind, and arrive needing a setting where they can ask questions without being judged. They come with a wide mix of circumstances — caring responsibilities, interrupted schooling, health worries they have carried alone, and work that leaves little room for anything else.

Our aim is to leave each woman with skills she can use, health knowledge she can act on, and relationships she can rely on. Underneath all of it is a simple belief: that every woman already carries something worth investing in, and that our job is to make room for it.

A group of women standing together outside a community centre
When women support women, communities become stronger.

Reach Her Foundation

Support · Empower · Reach Her

Frequently asked questions

Together we can make a difference

You don't need to have it all worked out before getting in touch. We'll walk you through how the programmes run, and help you work out whether this is the right direction.

Get in touch about getting in touch
A volunteer welcoming a woman into a community session