It’s Monday morning and Sharon Hughes sings along to the radio as she bustles around the kitchen at the Tomorrow’s Women centre in Birkenhead.
The charity was launched in 2011 to help women in or on the periphery of the Criminal Justice System to set themselves on a different path. Over the last 12 years, the service has evolved to support women dealing with a whole host of issues such as domestic abuse and social isolation, with more than 11,000 women having had their lives transformed by the centre on Beckwith St East.
“I’ve been through it all and Tomorrow’s Women (TW) has been a lifeline for me,” Sharon tells the ECHO as she sinks into one of the many sofas dotted about the centre’s communal area. “I always say it's like a magical place here. Everyone evolves at a different place and Tomorrow’s Women gives you a place to do that.”
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Sharon admits she’s had to endure her fair share of struggles. The 55-year-old grew up in care, and, at 16, left the system with “no tools and coping mechanisms” to help navigate adult life. She said: “I’ve had a lot of issues in my life. I’ve had a lot of knock downs and terrible mental health.
“I’ve had anxiety, depression and I’ve had a couple of nervous breakdowns. I’m not ashamed to say I’ve tried to take my own life a few times but this place has kept me going and has saved me on a couple of occasions."
For more than a decade, TW has made a monumental impact on Sharon and thousands of other women across Merseyside. The Charity is available free of charge to any adult woman and runs a monthly timetable of accredited courses, activities, and support sessions.
The communal spaces, stuffed with piles of board games and sofas draped in colourful throws, make the Birkenhead centre feel more like a home than a charity. And Sharon, who now volunteers here, is a testament to the success of TW’s warm familial ethos.
She said: “I first got involved around 2012. I only live round the corner so I came down to see what it was about and I’ve been coming on and off - mostly on - for all these years. I’m finally at a place in my life where I’m at peace.
"I volunteer now a few days a week. I’ve always enjoyed helping people. It feeds my soul to help others. Even though you’re only behind a counter serving teas and coffees, you’re still that listening ear with a smile on your face.
She added: “People ask me why I’m always smiling and singing, but that’s what this place has done for me. I know now that nothing will ever affect me like it did before. I would never try and take my own life again. I’ve come so far but that’s because I’ve got the tools the staff and the other women here have taught me.”
As well as volunteering, Sharon takes part in a range of activities at the centre, participating in everything from guitar lessons to drama group.
”This place gave me my life back”, she said. “I have so much experience in domestic violence, alcohol, drugs - a big resume and I’m not proud of it - but I can talk to other women knowing I’ve walked a mile in their shoes. I just want to give a little bit back to a place that has given me so much.”
TW's CEO, Angela Murphy, has a background working with those within the Criminal Justice System. Together with founder Chair, Maureen Thompson, who was previously Chair of the Bench of Wirral Magistrates, she set up the charity to offer a different, more radical approach that gave women a safe female-only space to develop.
Molly Johnson, who works for the charity, told the ECHO: "It's about empowering women to be able to make decisions for themselves. We're very much advertised as a safe space and we offer women in crisis the chance to come here and engage."
TW also runs the Tomorrow’s Young Women Project, which helps to support young girls from the ages of 14-17 with support around mental health, healthy relationships, substance use, bullying, low self-esteem and act as a preventative service to girls being involved with criminal activity and County Lines.
Molly said: "A lot of our women tell us they often wish they could have got support when they were younger as it might have stopped them from getting involved in certain situations, which is why Tomorrow's Young Women is so great."
Due to the charity's success and continued demand, TW is set to open a new centre in Chester next month to support women in the Cheshire West and Chester area. Any woman who would like some support can ring 0151 647 7907 and speak to one TW's trained staff to learn more about what they can do to change women’s lives for the better.
To find out more about the charity, click here.
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