About Women + Health

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About Women + Health Women + Health is a community-based health centre that delivers affordable complementary therapies and counselling to women in Camden through a range of projects and services. As a charity, our priority clients are those Camden women most disadvantaged and marginalised, though at Women + Health we recognise that many women live with stresses and strains that impact on their health, while often finding it hard to prioritise their own well-being. Our core aim is to empower women to take responsibility for their own health. To have counselling at Women + Health you need to be living in Camden W+H has over 35 counsellors, and over 40 complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners providing treatments in a range of therapies, such as acupuncture, osteopathy, homeopathy, massage, reflexology, Alexander Technique and shiatsu. There are also Travelling Therapies, classes, groups, courses, a crèche and outreach projects.

Mission statement To create an integrated complementary and alternative healthcare service responsive to the needs of local women, while encouraging and facilitating a broader awareness of women's health issues, and promoting innovative ways of approaching healthcare.

Who can use Women + Health? To access our counselling and CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) services, you will need to become a member. To become a member, you must be a woman living, working or studying (full-time) in Camden. To join groups or classes at Women + Health you don't need to be a member or a Camden resident.

Membership Annual membership entitling you to all services is £15, or £7.50 for concessions. Women joining Women + Health for the first time will have a short introductory meeting with a member of staff.

How much will you have to pay? At Women + Health we offer CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) health treatments on a sliding scale from £45 - £12 depending on individual circumstances. An affordable fee is established at a short introductory meeting. Women wanting affordable counselling will be interviewed by our counselling team. Fees are on a sliding scale of £30 - £5.

How we are funded With some core funding support from the London Borough of Camden, NHS Camden and some project funding from individual charitable trusts, Women + Health is constantly seeking to make all its services financially sustainable. If you are interested in supporting the centre to ensure the future of these valuable services, please click here to find out how.

Eco-friendly, easy-to-reach premises Women + Health is unique in London as a women-only, affordable, accessible, environmentally friendly health centre. Many of the latest ideas in ecological and urban design are incorporated in our premises at 4 Carol Street, renovated with the help of a Community Fund grant in 2001/2.

History This unique health centre was set up over 20 years ago in response to a survey carried out in the Somers Town and Camden Town area by Bloomsbury Community Health Council. The survey found that local women were not able to access appropriate health services, and what they wanted were community-run services with complementary therapies provided by women within a women-focused framework and at a price that would be affordable to them. In response to this survey a group of women, with support from the Greater London Council (GLC), rented premises in Camden and set up Women+Health as a charity, and company limited by guarantee. The physical and mental health problems of women in Camden have not diminished since W+H was founded in 1986, though they have certainly changed, and we are in the unique position of being able to fill the gaps which inevitably arise between NHS, Camden Council and voluntary sector provision.

How we define 'Health' Our definition of health is a holistic one in line with the World Health Organisation: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Women + Health takes into account, and addresses, mental and emotional problems, physical ailments and the environmental and lifestyle factors that affect health and well being. We are operating within, and constantly responding to, a changing political and cultural climate as well as the increasingly complex needs of our service users.

To find out more To find out more about Women + Health, visit the Charity Commission website (link below) Charity Commission Website