My Sisters’ House – Bognor Regis

My Sisters’ House is a women’s centre in West Sussex, operating across the Arun and Chichester districts. Founded in 2014, we support any self-identifying woman with multiple disadvantages, offering wrap-around support, specialising in domestic abuse, wellbeing, employment and welfare. Currently we have 19 FTE employees (made up of 32 paid staff, alongside 45+ volunteers). In 2015 My Sisters’ House supported 28 new clients, whilst in 2022 this increased dramatically to 1325 new clients. We are currently on a trajectory of 1,600+ by the end of 2023. With a mission to help women “thrive, not just survive,” we provide trauma-informed support in responsive, women’s-only spaces where their unique strengths, needs and challenges are acknowledged. My Sisters’ House supports women in the community struggling against social and economic disadvantage, acting as consistent advocates, often at the hardest point of someone’s life.  

My Sisters’ House has a dedicated domestic abuse team supporting women with complex needs, including two Eastern European Complex Needs Workers, whose focus is upon supporting this community. We offer the support of specialist staff with knowledge and experience in the fields in which they provide assistance; domestic abuse, employment support and training, emotional support, benefits & financial advice and advocacy and housing advice. We help by providing one-to-one keyworking, drop-in support, peer support groups, courses and online support. We offer a free, in-house counselling service, as well as holistic therapies. We work with external providers, who offer their own support through My Sisters’ House (e.g. Pregnancy Options, Narcotics Anonymous, Sexual Health Clinic, local Forest School). We also issue women with food bank vouchers, toiletries, and crisis funds.

My Sisters’ House acts as ‘the net-beneath-the-net’, being the consistent advocate for women with multiple and complex needs, in many cases when they have disengaged from statutory support. Our aim is to remove barriers to this support by being a dependable, non-judgemental service women across West Sussex can turn to. If our clients engage successfully with the services offered to them, we can help break the cyclical nature of abuse, and prevent medium-risk abuse victims from getting to high-risk stage and seeking refuge. With the welfare support we offer, we can help vulnerable women who are at risk of taking extreme measures due to circumstantial need, thereby reducing levels of substance abuse, criminal offences and potentially even losing access to their children.