Hopscotch Women’s Centre is a charity that provides support services for women facing gender and racial inequality in the Camden area and beyond.

Last year, to mark the 25th anniversary of Hopscotch, Regent’s Place hosted a charity abseil with more than 80 people, including the Mayor of Camden and the CEO of Hopscotch – raising more than £43,000 to help women who face domestic abuse.

Benaifer Bhandari, CEO at Hopscotch, reflects on the first anniversary and shares how the charity has used the money raised over the past 12 months… 

One year on, how has Hopscotch used the funding?

Firstly, a big thank you again to the customers at Regent’s Place for their generous donations to Hopscotch last year. It has meant so much to our whole team who work tirelessly to improve the wellbeing of women’s lives in the Camden area.

As a charity, we often need to respond quickly to ‘on the ground’ needs and pressures – particularly in the context of the cost-of-living crisis and increase in reporting of abuse.

For instance, we created a higher number of drop-in sessions following an uplift in referrals in the community. During the cost-of-living crisis, our expenses have increased in line with inflation – but the demand for our services has also risen. The funding allowed us to double our welfare advice support – making a real difference to women in need!

Do you have any examples of how the donations have helped in action?

As well as contributing the additional Welfare Advisor, we also created a job role for an additional Violence Against Women & Girls Advocate. Their role involves supporting women by referring to counselling services, and sourcing accommodation options, across a two-year period.

Our staff can speak a total of 27 languages across the team, but the extra team member has allowed us to support even more women in need. Our care is offered across a mixture of one-to-one sessions and group work, including workshops and peer-to-peer support groups.

Any key achievements over the past year?

We have formalised our offer to provide more drop-in sessions and have built greater financial independence. We are now working closely with councils in Westminster, Brent, Southwark and Tower Hamlets to expand our trauma informed services in these areas.

What’s next for Hopscotch?

We would love to spread the word of our work across London, particularly in South London. There’s a lack of funding and targeted support for communities south of the river, so it would be great to engage local councils and organisations in new areas of need.

Reflecting on this time last year, my team and I were touched by the passion that volunteers displayed for Hopscotch on that day, and how everyone worked hard to independently raise money for our charity. It has made a real impact to the lives of women across the Camden community. Thank you again to everyone who donated!

For more information on Hopscotch, including donations, please visit: https://hopscotchuk.org/