Southwark Women’s Centres struggle to survive due to inadequate government funding

A report published this month (October 6) by Women In Prison, a national charity that supports women affected by the criminal justice system, has found that around half of Women’s Centres’ in England and Wales are facing a funding crisis.

Women’s centres across the nation provide a variety of in-house resources to vulnerable women and children, from food bank facilities to counselling. However, due to insufficient government funding many of these centres are finding it increasingly hard to offer services to those who desperately need them.

This lack of funding is impacting some communities more than others. In the Southwark borough many centres are particularly struggling to provide their users with safe housing due to the ongoing local housing crisis.

Southwark based charity Southwark and Lewisham Women’s Service, are struggling with relocating their users out of dangerous domestic situations. Chris Price, the CEO of the women’s service who specialise in helping those affected by the criminal justice system, stressed that sourcing housing is their top priority. He said: “We need to make sure these people have their housing. And that it is safe housing. Every woman we work with has either been a victim of crime or a victim of domestic abuse and if that’s the case you cannot release them into a community where they’ll be at risk again.”

Prevention resources many women’s centres offer, such as community-based fitness classes and career coaching sessions, are now having to be de-prioritised due to inadequate budgets. Sarah Hicks, Deputy CEO of The Bridge, an independently run women’s day centre located in Borough said: “We’re trying to provide support but that is so hard to do at the moment as there’s not enough resources to go around. It's harder to get funding for the early stages, to get support to people before they get to a critical point.” She went on to add: “It’s really tough, it definitely has been for a while but it’s really stretched now.”

On discussing the funding disparity with Southwark Borough councillor Irina Von Wiese, she said: “We now have to divert so much money to food and support programmes that all these other things have fallen by the wayside, which is extremely sad.”

National economic crises such as the increasing cost of living and soaring energy bills mean that government funding is no longer stretching far enough to support charities like women’s centres. Councillor Von Wiese said: “The problem of course is that we now have to scrap so many of our programmes simply because we have to keep people alive.”

Another delicious success story for female founded dessert shop Humble Crumble

Invitingly sweet and melt in your mouth delicious, fruit crumble is undoubtedly a national favourite. Humble Crumble founder Kimberley Innes, recognised from a very young age the nostalgic power this loveable pudding holds.

Launched in Southwark’s Borough Market, Humble Crumble now offers its unique customisable crumble pots in Spitalfields Market, with plans to open up more locations in 2023. The business is projected to have served 200,000 crumbles by the end of the year with its social reach amassing to just under 100 thousand followers on Instagram alone.

The professional milestones don’t stop there, Ms Innes was recently listed on the Telegraph X Natwest 100 Female Entrepreneurs Watchlist, published November 22. Ms Innes explained her thought behind applying for the place, she said: “The main reason I applied was because it was a female entrepreneurs list. It can be quite a lonely journey. And it's nice to meet other female business owners who understand what it's like to run a business as a woman.”

Over the years Ms Innes has overcome many obstacles being a female CEO and running a niche brand. She recalled: “I’ve also had a lot of people undermine what Humble Crumble is because it does look like a very female space. Because it is pink and it is pretty and there are a lot of women who work there. It tends to be older men, or traders within markets who aren't being the nicest.”

A lifelong crumble admirer, Ms Innes always had held an obsession with creating the perfect crumble from the age of 12. Reflecting on the journey from humble beginnings at farmers markets to now managing a growing team of 26, Ms Innes said: “My life has been about crumble for so long. It’s weird to me that I run a crumble business, it doesn't always feel like real life.”


Image Credits: Borough Market

The artist helping to reclaim the Aylesbury Estate, one transformed brick at a time

A piece of rubble would not come to mind when picturing an artist's canvas. But, a concrete canvas was not the only unlikely discovery artist Harriet Mena Hill made in the blocks of Southwark’s Aylesbury estate.


Hill, a studio artist since the age of 23, has lived for around 30 years in close proximity to the South East London estate. Over the past five years she has predominantly worked at the youth centre within the estate offering art lessons, creative workshops and summer programmes to resident children.






In a time when creative subjects are becoming de-prioritised within the education sector and young people are increasingly looking for alternatives to social media for connection, the work Hill does is more important than ever. Alongside this, gentrification is an overwhelming issue facing many boroughs in London, the Aylesbury Estate is unfortunately just one example of a neighbourhood being forcibly taken from its residents.

While completing her first artistic project with the children in 2018, Hill discovered just how inaccurate Aylesbury’s notorious reputation really was. She says: “In the media it was portrayed as being a very negative and hopeless place. Just subconsciously whilst I was working there I thought this doesn’t conform at all with what its reputation is. They’re incredible, the kids. They’re so ambitious and ready to take on the world.”

Over the past few decades, Hill has found fun and inventive ways to bring the children of the estate together. ‘The Home is where the Heart is’ was a thoughtful postcard project that involved the elderly residents communicating with the children about what it is like to live through tough times on the estate. Hill says: ‘We had older Aylesbury residents, who have been there for over 50 years and who were originally rehomed onto the Aylesbury Estate, linked up with young residents who are facing forcible relocation. It was all about resilience and coming to terms with what is actually happening.”

Relocation is a devastating reality facing those living on the estate, with block after block now being demolished as residents watch on. It was from the aftermath of the Chilton Court demolition that Hill discovered her new medium, she says: “I was driving past when I noticed a couple of bits of rubble had come over the barrier. I made two salvage attempts where I did climb over the holdings, then I thought this really isn’t going to be good if I get caught!”

After creating what would be her first piece in a monumental collection, Hill took it back home with her, she says: “I took a bit of the concrete to the studio with no plan at all. Then I just started drawing a picture of the demolished building back on the building. It was sort of an instinctive thing. I brought it home and showed it to my partner, and he went ‘Oh my god! That really makes sense what you’ve done there.’”





Hill has been sharing the realist pieces on her instagram page (@harrietmena_hill) where admiring ex-residents continue to get in touch with her about the work. She says: “Almost all of them have been extremely positive. They’ve understood that I'm not trying to exploit their environment or glamourise it or romanticise it, that what they’re seeing is the place that they knew and a place that has been extremely important in forming who they are.”

Keeping her artistic passion at the very core of everything she does, Hill works to promote the non-traditional life she knows and loves: “I encourage as many young people as I can to go into freelance. I think being hungry and really wanting to do something is important. If you really want to do something you will always find a way.”

Despite her growing artistic reach, Hill has no plans to abandon her Aylesbury work anytime soon, saying: “I've worked with this amazing community for the past five years and will continue for as long as I can work with them and for as long as they’re there.”