Rochdale Women's Welfare Association

What Rochdale Women's Welfare Association does

Rochdale Women's Welfare Association (RWWA) is a woman-led registered charity and company limited by guarantee operating for over 35 years from a single headquarters at 18 Trafalgar Street, Rochdale. It provides a coordinated suite of free specialist support services targeted at Black and Minoritised women in the Rochdale Borough, including Domestic Abuse Survival and Recovery (incorporating the only Freedom Programme delivered in Urdu across the North West of England), Counselling, Education and Training, Wellbeing programs, a Girls' Youth Forum, and Advocacy. Services are delivered in English, Urdu, Punjabi, Mirpuri, Sylheti, and Bangla by bilingual qualified staff, both face-to-face and online, and the organisation holds Imkaan accreditation as a BME specialist Violence Against Women and Girls provider.

The organisation's commercial and operational footprint is regional and narrowly defined: a single physical site, a small named staff and board complement, and a beneficiary base drawn primarily from Rochdale, Heywood, Middleton, and The Pennines. RWWA participates in cross-organisation programmes such as the Comic Relief-funded Champa Champions consortium (with Humraaz Saheli and Apna Haq), the Oxfam Routes to Solidarity Project, and the BME Women's Solidarity Forum, and is listed in the Women's Aid Domestic Abuse Directory for national referral visibility.

RWWA generates no fee revenue from service users. Income is derived from institutional grants (Smallwood Trust, National Lottery Community Fund, Comic Relief, Lankelly Chase), individual donations with Gift Aid, and Easyfundraising affiliate proceeds. The organisation has no proprietary technology platform, no AI or ML capabilities, no app products, and no patents or trademarks. Operating geographies are limited to the United Kingdom, with no global footprint claimed.

Name

Rochdale Women's Welfare Association

Legal name

Rochdale Women's Welfare Association

Website

https://rwwa.org.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rochdale Women's Welfare Association is a woman-led UK charity providing free, culturally and linguistically appropriate domestic abuse, counselling, education, wellbeing, and advocacy services to Black and Minoritised women in the Rochdale Borough, delivered in multiple South Asian languages from a single Rochdale site.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Services / Women's Welfare Charity

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Domestic Violence & Abuse Support Services (BPAGAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD)

Keywords

• Domestic abuse support
• Women's counselling services
• BME women's services
• Community advocacy programmes
• Youth empowerment services

Headquarters

HQ city

Rochdale

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: RWWA receives grants from charitable foundations and government funds. Major funders include Smallwood Trust (£1.75 million Women's Urgent Support Fund), Comic Relief (for Champa Champions program), Lankelly Chase (5-year support), and National Lottery Community Fund. Grants typically fund staff salaries, essential items for women at risk, and operational costs.
2. Donations and Gift Aid: Individual donations with Gift Aid scheme enabled, allowing charity to claim 25% tax relief on qualifying donations. Easyfundraising platform also generates donations from partner retailers.
3. Easyfundraising: Online fundraising through easyfundraising platform where retailers donate a percentage of purchases when customers shop through the platform. Over 8,000 retailers participate.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Rochdale Women's Welfare Association is a woman-led registered charity delivering free, confidential support services for Black and minoritised women across the Rochdale Borough. Its core offering covers Domestic Abuse Survival & Recovery (including the only Urdu Freedom Programme in the North West), Counselling, Education & Training (ESOL, IT, fashion and design), Wellbeing activities, the Girls' Youth Forum, and Advocacy work on VAWG issues. Services are provided in English, Urdu, Punjabi, Mirpuri, Sylheti, and Bangla, both face-to-face and online.

Product overview

Rochdale Women's Welfare Association is a woman-led charitable organization providing a coordinated suite of specialist support services for Black and minoritised women. The core offering consists of Domestic Abuse Survival & Recovery, Counselling, Education & Training, Wellbeing, Girls' Youth Forum, and Advocacy services. Key programs include the Champa Champions consortium partnership and the Women's Aid Domestic Abuse Directory. Services are delivered in multiple languages (Urdu, Punjabi, Mirpuri, Sylheti, Bangla) and available both online and face-to-face, with the organization being the only provider of the Freedom Programme in Urdu in the North West.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Domestic Abuse Survival & Recovery Specialist support service for domestic abuse survivors providing confidential assistance in multiple languages, safety planning, and the only Urdu-language Freedom Programme in the North West of England. Targeted at Black and minoritised women experiencing abuse.
• Counselling Mental health support services for BME women delivered by culturally competent counsellors, available in multiple languages and via online or face-to-face sessions.
• Education & Training Educational programmes including ESOL classes, fashion and design courses, IT skills, healthy cooking workshops, and culturally appropriate training on honour-based and domestic abuse.
• Wellbeing Holistic wellbeing programmes for BME women including Super Sahelian group for elderly women, armchair exercises, chai and chat sessions, lunch groups, gardening, arts and crafts, and healthy eating workshops.
• Girls' Youth Forum Youth empowerment programme for BME young women offering arts, cooking, sports, issue-based activities, and guidance on topics including child protection, sexual exploitation, FGM, and HBV.
• Advocacy Advocacy services addressing voice, economic inequality, and mental health challenges faced by Black and minoritised women, including policy influence and systemic change work.
• Champa Champions Partnership consortium with Humraaz Saheli and Apna Haq, funded by Comic Relief, providing user-led specialist support for Black and minoritised women facing violence and abuse.
• Women's Aid Domestic Abuse Directory Online directory containing details of local, regional and national services specialising in violence against women and girls, powered by Routes to Support.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 300 women attended single International Women's Day event
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Humraaz SahelicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership consortium partner in Champa Champions program. Humraaz Saheli is the lead organisation for this Comic Relief funded project providing user-led specialist support meeting cultural, immigration and intersectional needs for Black/minoritised women facing violence and abuse.
• Apna HaqcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership consortium partner in Champa Champions program providing specialist support for Black and minoritised women facing violence and abuse. Project aims to empower women, build resilience, and challenge discrimination and systemic racism.
• Oxfam - Routes to Solidarity ProjectmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupports BME women and their organisations to increase knowledge of their rights, exercise greater leadership, build confidence and capacity to work together and influence decisions. Funded by Department of Communities and Local Government. RWWA participated in this network strengthening BME women's voice in the North.
• Women's AidmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRWWA is listed in the Women's Aid Domestic Abuse Directory powered by Routes to Support. This provides detailed information about services since 2003 and is constantly updated, containing comprehensive listings throughout the UK.
• Rochdale Safer Homes SchememajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide safer homes assessments for domestic abuse victims. Anyone who is a victim of domestic abuse or is in fear of violence can apply for assessment leading to door locks, window locks, personal alarms etc. RWWA worked with the scheme to raise awareness among agencies across the borough.
• Black and Minority Ethnic Women's Solidarity Forum (BME WSF)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of women based in the North West who came together to form a collective voice. Organised Strengthening North West Women's Voices in Government consultation bringing together 80 women from 43 organisations to bring views to Government.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Apna Haq: Sheffield-based specialist BME women's VAWG charity and third member of the Champa Champions consortium; directly comparable in target population (BME survivors of domestic and honour-based abuse) and culturally competent service model.
• Humraaz Saheli: Leads the Champa Champions consortium alongside RWWA and Apna Haq; provides user-led specialist Black and minoritised women's VAWG support in the North of England, directly comparable in mission, beneficiary group and service mix.
• Southall Black Sisters: Long-established West London BME women's rights and VAWG specialist; the closest large-scale analogue to RWWA, operating casework, refuge, advocacy and policy-influence work for Black and minoritised women — directly comparable on mission and service architecture.
• Hemat Gryffe Women's Aid: Glasgow-based Scottish-Asian women's domestic abuse service providing refuge, outreach and culturally-specific support; directly comparable as a small-region BME specialist VAWG charity operating multilingual service delivery.
• Asian Women's Resource Centre: Greater Manchester-based specialist BME women's organisation providing domestic abuse, mental health, advocacy and training services; directly comparable in geography (North West), target population and core services.
• Kairos Women Working Together (Kairos WWT): North West specialist service for women involved in or vulnerable to the criminal justice system, including BME survivors of domestic abuse and trafficking; comparable in service scope (advocacy, counselling, group support) and specialist segment focus.
• Bawso: Wales-wide BME specialist VAWG provider offering refuge, counselling, advocacy and culturally competent support; directly comparable in target population, service mix and accredited specialist status for BME survivors.

Broad incumbents

• Refuge: Largest UK specialist VAWG charity operating the National Domestic Abuse Helpline and extensive refuge provision; broad incumbent offering overlapping thematic territory to RWWA but at national scale rather than as a culturally specialist BME service.
• Women's Aid Federation of England: National umbrella coordinating body for the VAWG sector; the publisher of the Routes-to-Support directory in which RWWA is listed, and the dominant coordinating voice on English VAWG policy — a broad incumbent that overlaps with RWWA's sector rather than competing for the same local service users.

Others

• Imkaan: UK membership and policy body for specialist BME women's VAWG services and the accrediting organisation of RWWA; a sector-infrastructure and standards-setting organisation that sits one level above RWWA as a peer of its peer ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RochdaleWomen
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UColBcpccjQIMemq42zezYlg/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/rochdalewomen
• Instagraminstagram.com/rochdalewomenswelfare

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rochdale Women's Welfare Association