As I join Woman's Trust in its 30th year, I've been reflecting on how we value specialist charities. We often talk about the NHS, schools and policing as essential infrastructure. Yet every day specialist charities prevent deaths, rebuild lives and reduce pressure on public services, while still too often being treated as optional extras rather than an integral part of our national infrastructure.

Specialist organisations do more than provide a service. They develop deep expertise in particular forms of trauma, understand barriers that generalist services can easily miss, and build trust with people whose experiences often fall between traditional service boundaries. That expertise improves outcomes not because it is niche, but because it is rooted in a profound understanding of the realities people face.

Far too often, specialist organisations are treated as an optional addition to public services rather than an essential part of the support people rely on to recover, rebuild and move forward. Yet every day, charities across the voluntary sector are being asked to hold communities together, respond to trauma, build trust, and fill gaps left elsewhere. I believe we can do that work incredibly well, but it has to be recognised, funded and treated as essential infrastructure, not as a nice add-on.

My perspective comes from the domestic abuse sector, but I believe the principle applies far more widely. Specialist charities exist because people do not experience their lives in neat service categories. Whether someone is navigating homelessness, poor mental health, disability, refugee status or domestic abuse, their experiences are complex, interconnected and shaped by multiple systems at once.

What drew me to Woman's Trust was the organisation's very clear understanding that domestic abuse does not end when the immediate crisis ends. Too often, services quite understandably have to focus on safety, housing, legal processes or emergency response. All of that is essential, but it is not the whole story.

Recovery from domestic abuse is a mental health issue. Specialist, trauma-informed mental health support is not an optional extra; it is central to rebuilding a life. As the government develops a new Mental Health Strategy, there is an opportunity to recognise recovery from domestic abuse as a core mental health issue. If we are serious about improving the nation's mental health, survivors of abuse cannot remain on the margins of those plans.

Their distress cannot be understood through symptoms alone. Their experiences are rooted in trauma, coercive control and wider gender inequality.

Recovery is not experienced equally. Poverty, racism, disability, insecure immigration status and other forms of inequality can compound both abuse and recovery. Specialist organisations are able to recognise these intersecting experiences and tailor support accordingly, rather than expecting one model to fit everyone.

Many women are coping not only with the long-term psychological impact of abuse but also post-separation abuse, stalking, family court proceedings, housing insecurity and financial control, all of which can have a profound impact on mental health and, in some cases, lead to suicidal ideation. Recovery rarely follows a neat or linear path.

Supporting recovery is about much more than helping someone survive abuse. It enables women to rebuild confidence, strengthen relationships, return to work, parent with greater security and reduce the long-term impact of trauma across generations.

Women can be years beyond an abusive relationship, yet continue to live with intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance and the enduring effects of trauma. For many, the emotional processing begins only once they are physically safe.

One of the biggest opportunities across the voluntary sector is to stop treating domestic abuse, mental health, housing, justice, children's services and community support as separate worlds. Women do not experience their lives in service categories.

Instead, services should work around people rather than expecting people to navigate fragmented systems while already under immense strain. That requires stronger partnerships, earlier intervention and greater recognition of the role specialist organisations play alongside statutory services.

At Woman's Trust, our Living Without Hope campaign is calling for £27.5 million a year to ensure survivors of domestic abuse can access specialist mental health support.

Today, around half of the women who come to Woman's Trust seeking specialist mental health support cannot access it because funding simply does not meet demand. That is not a reflection of need - it is a reflection of how we continue to undervalue recovery.

I know many organisations across the voluntary sector face similar challenges. Demand continues to rise while resources struggle to keep pace. Yet we continue to be asked to respond to increasingly complex needs and fill gaps elsewhere in the system.

As I begin leading Woman's Trust into its fourth decade, I see an opportunity to build on a remarkable legacy of expertise while contributing to a wider conversation about recovery.
For me, the challenge is not simply how we respond to crisis, but how we support long-term recovery, safety and thriving.

If we want to end violence against women and girls within a generation, we cannot focus solely on crisis response. Recovery helps women reclaim agency, make healthier relationship choices and interrupt the intergenerational transmission of trauma. It is prevention as much as it is healing.

Too often we measure specialist charities by the number of people they see, rather than by the complexity of the lives they help rebuild or the wider public costs they help prevent.
Specialist charities across the voluntary sector provide expertise, trusted relationships and long-term support that public services alone cannot deliver. They are not filling gaps as an optional extra - they are preventing crises, reducing pressure elsewhere and helping people rebuild their lives. If we truly want healthier communities and better public services, it is time we recognised specialist charities as essential infrastructure and invested in them accordingly.

womanstrust.org.uk

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