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This project successfully funded on 2nd March 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
The Elms: The UK's first women-only detox centre
United Kingdom
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Aim
Be part of building the UK’s first women-only detox centre. The Boodles Garden has found its new home. Help us finish what's been started.
Help us build the UK’s first women-only detox centre
Women struggling with drug and alcohol dependence in the UK are facing a devastating gap in care. Despite clear evidence that women’s experience of substance use differs from men and requires gender-specific support, there are currently no dedicated detox facilities exclusively for women in the UK. This absence leaves women, including survivors of domestic abuse and those facing a range of complex challenges, without the safe, specialist care they desperately need.
We’re changing this.
A garden designed for restoration. Now part of a place built around the same idea.
At this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the Boodles Garden drew visitors into a space designed for sanctuary and restoration: a place to pause, breathe, and feel calm.
That garden now has a permanent home.
The pavilion, the plants, and the beautiful water channel, repurposed as a living planter, have been gifted to The Elms, a peaceful countryside setting on the Gloucestershire/ Worcestershire border that we're transforming into the UK's first women-only inpatient detox centre.
A garden inspired by the royal retreats of Hampton Court, Kew Palace and the Tower of London, now rooted in a place where women can take part in their own journey of change, at their own pace, in their own way.
We're asking you to help us finish what's been started.
What is The Elms?
The Elms will be the UK's first detox centre exclusively for women. Not because other services don't work, but because they don't work for everyone.
For some women, a mixed-gender environment isn't the right setting for this part of their journey. For some, the fear of judgement or not feeling safe is enough to stop them seeking help altogether. The Elms is being built to change that.
We’ve secured a building with spacious, peaceful grounds in the countryside. With your support, we'll turn it into a safe, welcoming space where women can access specialist medical care, psychological support, and, thanks to the Boodles Garden, a therapeutic outdoor space unlike anything else in the UK.
Our centre will be:
- Medically managed – Offering expert-led, specialist detoxification and stabilisation services.
- Psychologically-informed – Designed to support women who have faced traumatic experiences, for example domestic abuse.
- Holistic & supportive – Integrating psychological care, peer support, and pathways to ongoing wellbeing and stability.
- Safe & empowering – A gender-specific environment where women can focus on their own journey, supported and empowered by other women.
Who we are and why we’re taking action
Via is a UK charity that has supported people affected by drug and alcohol use for over 30 years. We run community services, residential detox and rehab, harm reduction programmes, and specialist support across the country.
Every day, we see the impact that gender-specific care, or the lack of it, has on women. We know that mixed-gender detox environments aren’t right for everyone. We also know how many women avoid treatment altogether because they fear judgement, discrimination, or not being safe.
That’s why Via is stepping up to create something that has never existed before.
Why we need your help
We have the building.
We have the clinical expertise.
We have women across the UK telling us how urgently this service is needed.
Now, we need you to help us bring this centre to life.
Your donation will help us:
🏡 Renovate the building into a warm, welcoming, and healing space.
🩺 Equip the facility with specialist medical and psychological care resources.
🌱 Develop outdoor therapeutic spaces for rest, reflection and renewal.
The impact of your support
Your generosity will directly change lives. Women who would otherwise struggle in mixed-gender facilities, or worse, be unable to access detox at all, will have a dedicated place to get the support they need. With your help, we can create a flagship service that will set a new standard for women’s substance use care and support in the UK.
With your help, women can continue their journey toward the life they deserve, whatever this looks like for them: living safely, improving their health, caring for their family, building supportive relationships, or finding meaningful work.
Be part of her journey. Donate today.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made