Dorset Women urgently needs your support to tackle gender inequality across Dorset to achieve the 10 Standards of the Dorset Women’s Charter
Why Dorset Women is Needed
Dorset Women CIC is a Dorset-based not-for-profit women's gender equality organisation dedicated to fostering a more equitable county for people of all genders that brings people together, works closely with leaders and decision-makers, and raises awareness of what women, girls and gender-diverse people need in order to thrive.
Dorset Women CIC exists because we believe that individuals and communities in Dorset can only truly thrive within society, and reach their full potential, with gender balance across every aspect of humanity and daily life, achieved through a collaboration between everyone in our communities.
Women, girls and gender-diverse people should be able to feel safe wherever they are, access timely healthcare, and have the same opportunities for fair employment and financial security as everyone else. They deserve to be represented by leaders who listen to them and include their voices in the policies and decisions that affect their lives. They should also be able to take part in leisure, sport and cultural activities without barriers or disadvantage.
Dorset Women CIC brings people together, works closely with leaders and decision-makers, and raises awareness of what women, girls and gender-diverse people need in order to thrive.
Your support will help us plan and deliver our work, pay people fairly for their time and expertise, and remain fully independent in everything we do.
This is currently not the case, as highlighted in this short video.
Through our strengths, allyship and connections we aim to create a society free from sex and gender-based discrimination. We believe that when women, girls and gender-diverse people experience inequality, bias, oppression or discrimination, EVERYONE is impacted and whole communities suffer.
We believe that all of Dorset will be stronger if women, girls and gender-diverse people can truly thrive and reach their full potential. At Dorset Women CIC, we believe that social change can, and should, happen from the grassroots, where people come together to create, demand, and drive the change they want to see.
Take Action Without Adding to Your To-Do List.
You see the headlines. You know the Gender Pay Gap isn't closing fast enough. You see the rising costs of childcare and the "motherhood penalty" forcing talented women out of the workforce. You’re aware that Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) remains a systemic crisis that requires more than just "awareness"- it requires policy change and justice. You know that the persistent inequalities in women’s healthcare and the lack of representation in leadership make it feel like women’s rights are being rolled back under our noses.
You want to help. You want to protest, write to your MP, volunteer or attend events. But your life as a woman is hectic. We get it. You’re studying, working, parenting, caring, leading, queuing, fixing all at the same time. You are juggling a thousand plates. You care passionately, but you simply don’t have the hours in the day to be on the front lines.
Dorset Women CIC is doing it for you.
But justice doesn’t just happen. It is built and must be funded. We are your voice in the rooms where decisions are made. We are the boots on the ground, tackling the systemic barriers that hold women and girls back in our county. When you can’t be there to complain, to educate, or to challenge the status quo - we are.
Support Dorset Women CIC
Building a Fairer Dorset for Women and Girls
We are at a pivotal moment in our journey.
In 2021, we began as a voluntary community group - evolving from Women’s Action Network Dorset (WAND) - powered entirely by passion, commitment, and unpaid labour. There was no funding. Just a shared belief that Dorset could - and should - be fairer for women and girls.
After the profound impact of Covid-19 and the Cost of Living Crisis, in 2022 our volunteer committee faced a difficult decision: close our doors, or evolve.
They chose the latter. And so Dorset Women CIC was born.
From Grassroots Movement to Community Interest Company
Following consultation with 60 women leaders across Dorset, we co-designed the Dorset Women’s Charter - a bold framework for change setting out the kind of society women, girls and gender diverse people should be able to expect: one where they can live safely, thrive fully, and never experience inequality because of their sex or gender.
In 2023, we formally incorporated as Dorset Women CIC with six founding Directors, giving our movement the legal structure and accountability needed to grow sustainably.
Today, we are thriving.
We have a clear strategy.
We have an ambitious workplan.
We have a lot to do.
We have a clear strategy, an ambitious plan, and important work ahead of us to deliver the change Dorset needs
But we need your support to secure our future.
What We Are Working Towards
Our mission is simple and bold:
To achieve the 10 Standards of the Dorset Women’s Charter.
These standards describe the Dorset we are working to build - where women, girls and gender diverse people are safe, their health needs are understood and met and they have access to fair employment and leadership opportunities. A Dorset where decision-making reflects women’s voices and no-one experiences inequality based on their sex or gender.
We work across the Local Authority areas of Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP), with and for people from all backgrounds - particularly those at risk of multiple and intersecting inequality or disadvantage.
We proudly include trans women and all gender diverse people within our work.
Our Priorities
Your support will build on real, tangible impact and help us to continue to deliver our priority projects:
🌿 Improving Women’s Health
Through our partnership project with NHS Dorset, we are helping to ensure women’s health remains a priority with decision makers and health commissioners. We are proud of the Dorset Women’s Health Website co-designed with the women and clinicians of Dorset and continue to advocate for all women to receive timely and equitable access to healthcare.
✊ Tackling Violence and Inequality
Our Tackling the Culture of Violence workshop bought together professionals and community leaders to understand what causes harmful norms and safer environments for women and girls. We continue to work with partners to ensure that all women, girls and gender diverse people are safe wherever they are.
📊 Influencing Equality in Employment
Our latest Dorset Women and Employment 2025 Report provides evidence to decision-makers and will launch our new project to tackle gendered barriers to employment across our county.
X Levelling the Playing Field in Sport and Physical Activity
We are working closely with partners to ensure that women, girls and gender diverse people have the equal ability to take part in physical activities and sport as everyone else. Research tells us that girls who take part in sport learn essential skills for life.
Why We Need Your Support Now
We have ambitious plans and a lot to do. We need to pay people a decent wage to achieve these ambitions. Taking action for equality needs reliable and predictable funding.
We need stable core funding to sustain our small staff team and resources to ensure we are reaching people across the whole of the county. We know that people living in remote areas or in neighbourhoods of economic deprivation can experience extreme disadvantage. We need investment in governance, communications, and evaluation so that we can never be accused of not doing things properly. And we need to ensure the Dorset Women’s Charter remains a living, evolving framework. We need resources to ensure that everything we do is based on facts and data.
Your donation will not just support a project.
It will support a movement.
We have ambitious plans and vital work ahead. To make real progress toward equality, we need reliable and sustainable funding that allows us to pay people fairly and plan our work with confidence.
Stable core funding will help sustain our small staff team and ensure we can reach communities across the whole of Dorset. We know that people living in rural areas or in neighbourhoods facing economic deprivation can experience significant disadvantage, and we want to make sure no one is left out of this work.
Your support will also help us strengthen the foundations of what we do - investing in good governance, clear communications, and strong evaluation. This means we can remain transparent, accountable, and effective, while ensuring the Dorset Women’s Charter continues to grow as a living, evolving framework for change. It will also allow us to base everything we do on robust evidence, facts and data.
Your donation won’t just support a single project.
It will help power a movement for equality across Dorset
What Your Contribution Will Help Fund
Your money will help us to pay the salaries of our very small but passionate and committed staff team. We believe that women should be paid a fair salary for doing the work needed to keep an organisation like Dorset Women CIC going.
It will also pay the expenses of our amazing volunteers who work hard to help us to do research, run events and workshops, attend meetings and write our reports and training programmes. No volunteer should be out of pocket for helping us to do what we do.
With your support we can pay the salaries of our small but passionate and dedicated staff team to drive forward our mission. We believe that the women doing the work to sustain and grow an organisation like Dorset Women CIC deserve to be paid fairly for their time, skills and commitment.
Your contribution will also help cover the expenses of our incredible volunteers. They give their time to support research, run events and workshops, attend meetings, and help develop our reports and training programmes. No one should be out of pocket for contributing their energy and expertise to this work.
A Fairer Dorset Is Possible
Dorset Women CIC exists because the data and research tell us that gender inequality exists for too many people across our county and in many different ways.
When we co-designed the Dorset Women’s Charter with women, we ensured it described the problems they experience and the future that they want.
We are building that future - collaboratively, transparently, and ambitiously.
If you believe in a Dorset where women, girls and gender diverse people can live free from inequality, where their voices shape decisions, and where opportunity is not limited by gender - please stand with us.
We want to provide you with high-value ways to stay informed and connected. When you make a donation you will receive:
Donate today.
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Help us make the Dorset Women’s Charter a reality.
We know that you care, help us to act. Together, we can build a Dorset where everyone can thrive.
This project closed unsuccessfully on 16th June 2026