At Anawim, most of the women we work with have suffered trauma, violence or abuse at some point in their lives – whether it’s through domestic or financial abuse, sexual trauma, homelessness, mental illness or through involvement with the criminal justice system.
We are here to help you on your personal journey to feeling safer, more settled and in control of your own life – and we do that without judgement, in a caring and respectful way.
Our friendly expert teams know that these experiences can be made worse by everyday worries. It could be that you have lost your job, are anxious about money or the cost of living crisis, have low self esteem, mental health issues or are in an abusive relationship with no means of escape.
We offer a wide range of support from helping you find housing to advice on finances, getting counselling for domestic abuse or advocacy support when dealing with official agencies.
Our award-winning Women’s Centre in Balsall Heath has over 30 years’ experience providing services including:
- counselling
- courses
- activities
- help to get basic essentials including food, toiletries and clothing
- specialist support in handling the criminal justice system
- mental health support
- advice and services if suffering violence and abuse.
Everything happens at our friendly, women-led Anawim base so you don’t have to travel around the city for different appointments. That includes counselling, one-to-one sessions, courses or dropping in for a chat over a cup of tea.
All of our staff and volunteers are women too and understand that everyone’s story is different – that’s why everything we do is geared towards the individual and their personal needs.
Who we support
Anawim helps all women aged 18 and above from across Birmingham at its Balsall Heath women’s centre – whatever their background and family situation. Women who turn up at our drop-in sessions or have been referred to us and have experienced domestic abuse, sexual abuse or have multiple and complex needs will be referred to our specialist services, working with experienced caseworkers, trained in their fields.
Working in such a diverse city as Birmingham, we welcome with open arms those seeking help from all communities and religions. We fully support the needs of our transgender service users, volunteers and staff, and are committed to creating an environment where the gender identity of everyone is respected and where all are afforded dignity and equal rights. You can read more about Anawim’s transgender policy here.
We love being part of and representing Birmingham’s diverse demographic and are constantly working to incorporate more inclusion needs for our women, staff, volunteers and trustees.
How to contact us
You can contact us in many ways. Women can get immediate support without a referral while agencies can seek help with women in their care in these ways:
📞 Directly over the phone 0330 0560 065 from Monday-Thursday, 9am-5pm and Friday 9am-4:30pm
👩 In person at our safe and women-only Drop-in at Anawim women’s centre (228 Mary Street, Balsall Heath, B12 9RJ) between from Monday to Friday, 9am-4:30pm
📨 By email at referrals@anawim.co.uk
Once you have made contact with us we will ask you for further information and work together with you to better understand your situation, your needs and your goals.
We also take referrals from external agencies and organisations to reach women in need and are keen to hear from you if you have a case to refer. Here’s how to get in touch. We have worked with organisations from Women’s Aid to the National Domestic Violence Helpline, the Rape and Sexual Violence project, Change, Grow, Live and other women’s centres nationally to help their clients.