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Connection. Confidence. A stronger future.
Safe and Sound Dorset brings together trusted support, practical help and community connection so that women experiencing isolation, disadvantage and barriers to wellbeing can move forward with greater confidence. Our aim is clear: to help women build supportive relationships, manage the challenges affecting their lives and participate more fully in their community.
Six connected outcomes. One clear ambition: helping women move forward.
Outcome 1 – Women feel less isolated and more connected
Connection starts with a welcoming place and the opportunity to build trust. Through shared meals, groups, creative activities, peer support, discussion and community events, we help women develop friendships and supportive relationships. Our intended outcome is that women feel less isolated and more connected to their community.
Outcome 2 – Women experience improved wellbeing, confidence and resilience.
We help women build the confidence to take positive steps in their lives. Wellbeing activities, creative opportunities, supportive relationships, practical help and personal development work together to strengthen emotional and social wellbeing. Our aim is greater resilience and increased confidence in managing everyday challenges.
Outcome 3 – Women are better able to address practical issues affecting their wellbeing
Practical barriers can make moving forward difficult. We help women facing housing, benefits, financial or other difficulties understand their options, access appropriate support and take action. Support may include forms, Universal Credit journals, housing issues, benefits, digital access and referrals to specialist organisations. Where appropriate, our aim is improved housing stability, greater financial resilience and increased confidence in managing practical issues.
Outcome 4 – Women develop skills and confidence to participate
Safe and Sound Dorset creates opportunities for women to build on their strengths and interests. Through practical, digital, creative, communication and personal development skills, we help women grow their confidence to participate in activities and, where appropriate, take steps towards volunteering, training, learning or employment.
Outcome 5 – Women experiencing multiple disadvantage are better able to access support
Our outreach and partnerships help connect women to support they might otherwise struggle to access. For women experiencing multiple disadvantage and barriers to mainstream services, trusted relationships provide a starting point. We support women to access housing, benefits, health, social care, specialist support and other relevant organisations—gradually, and with the help that is right for them.
Outcome 6 – Women have greater voice and participation in their community
Women’s voices help shape Safe and Sound Dorset. Through co-design, volunteering, peer involvement and community activities, we support women to express their views, contribute ideas and influence the support available to them. Our aim is for women to grow in confidence as active participants in community life, not simply recipients of support.
Measuring what matters. Learning from every step.
We put impact evidence at the heart of how we learn, improve and plan for the future.
We will regularly review what works, how needs are changing and whether women are experiencing the outcomes we intend. Women’s feedback, quantitative data and staff observations will guide the Hub’s development, keeping our programme relevant and responsive.
For funders, this means a clear focus on measurable outcomes without losing the human stories behind the numbers. We will assess more than attendance: whether women feel more connected, experience improved wellbeing, build confidence and resilience, overcome practical barriers and participate more fully in community life.
Nine years of trusted community support
For nine years, Safe and Sound Dorset has provided services to women and girls in our community. That experience has given us a strong understanding of the challenges facing women experiencing isolation, poverty, housing insecurity, disadvantage and barriers to mainstream services.
We have built steadily and sustainably: maintaining services through changing funding environments, developing a strong staff and volunteer base, building trusted local partnerships and increasing our reach and impact year on year.
We know that a referral or appointment alone is not always enough. Many women need time, trust, practical help and a safe place to build relationships before engaging with other services. That is why we bring together practical support, outreach, community connection, wellbeing activities, volunteering and opportunities to build confidence and skills.
Safe and Soud Dorset builds on services we already deliver, bringing them together in a more coordinated, accessible programme. Its focus is clear: reducing isolation, improving wellbeing and tackling the inequalities that prevent women from participating fully in community life.
Our reach. Our ambition.
Our organisation already engages women across the local community. We are building on that foundation with clear targets for participation, outreach, volunteering, wellbeing and specialist support.
Our current ambition is to meet or exceed the following targets:
• 250 unique women who are active service users and participants each year
• 5,300 attendances each year across women’s sessions, outreach, groups, activities and outings
• 60 unique women through street outreach
• 35 volunteers each year
• Over 85% of participants who complete our wellbeing feedback reporting an improvement in wellbeing, connection or participation
• 100 referrals to specialist services each year
These targets reflect the breadth of our work; they are ambitions, not a statement of achieved results.
Our accounts and detailed yearly reports can be found on Charity Commissions: SAFE AND SOUND DORSET - 1172371
2024 -2025 Impact Summary
Our 2024–2025 impact report highlights the challenges our funding helped us address: isolation, mental and physical health, poverty and disadvantage. The energy and cost-of-living crises increased demand for grant-funded winter food and warmth sessions, food vouchers and warm meals. Demand also grew for safe support with mental health, housing and homelessness, relationships and domestic violence.
Making the value of support visible
Supported by DCA, we have used the Social Value Engine, an online tool accredited by Social Value International, to quantify the social impact of our services. The SVE uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals to help organisations see how their activity builds a more attractive & sustainable community/place.
IMPACT IN NUMBERS:
€828,828.68 of social value achieved
For every £1 invested, £8.20 of social and economic value is returned.
Poverty and disadvantage put wellbeing under pressure, affecting access to nutritious food, warmth and support. Funding Safe and Sound Dorset helps us respond with practical help, community connection and wellbeing support. Behind the figures are women working towards greater stability, confidence and participation.
At this time women’s and girl’s organisations are facing a funding crisis. ‘Our new research found that the women and girls sector received just 1.8% of the £4.1 billion worth of grants awarded to charities in 2021. And of that, a third went to organisations with no specific focus on women and girls and just 3.9% went to the small and micro-organisations at the heart of the sector. If we really value an equitable future for women and girls, then we need to invest in it.’ (Rosa
Story/Testimony from a participant
‘If it was not for Safe and Sound Dorset, I would not be safe and sound, having had one overwhelming circumstance compound on top of another and the most unhelpful assistance from other organisations. Safe and Sound Dorset is distinctive, in that, they not only have their finger on the pulse corporately to what the group needs, they discreetly and imperceptibly, confidentially journey with each person where they are at and without unsolicited advice or pressure. Their intuitive, non-judgemental support is their greatest asset. They are patient and do not expect perfect recovery.
One has to feel safe before one will open up. One has to feel that their response is genuine engagement and that they are rock solid, stable and really want to invest in your holistic wellbeing, otherwise why invest your brokenness to someone who is unsafe and unsound. I had tried and tried in so many areas to resolve, progress and succeed, but with each setback, I had fallen more and more and even when I gave up my pride and reached out for a leg up and helping hand and the needs still not met, my health collapsed, and understandably my mental health followed suit.
I arrived at Safe and Sound Dorset without my suit, bathing suit or suit of armour. I "barely" (unapologetic pun) had a skin on (my nerves). It took 18 months for me to slightly open my heart. From the first moment, the anguish and desperation flooded out, but even with immediate solutions at hand, I felt caught, contained and held in SAFE-ty and knowing from the DEEPEST and most SACRED space, that NO matter what, whether immediate solutions or not, the trained personnel would be a stable, rock solid SOUND-ing board. Most important for me is what I call WITH-ness, just in the cave with, just on the journey with me, in comforting stillness and quietude. Silence of the heart has it's own language and can be the loudest voice.
A unique and blessed charity. Funding for these sessions is worth more than its weight in gold. It is immortal treasure - the golden thread which weaves us, unique beings, in a tapestry of humanity and life.’
Personal feedback:
‘I want to genuinely thank Safe and Sound Dorset for all the help and constant support I have received, in ways I didn’t expect. I have been helped, emotionally, mentally, in my self esteem, practically and more. All the encouragement and opportunities I have been given also helps my children and our family as I am a better, more capable and present mum. I have never experienced such a supportive group, so always available and compassionate. It’s very emotional for me to have been sustained in such a way, especially after such a crisis in my life. I have no end of gratitude to the team that makes this happen.’
Evaluation of Sessional/ Relationship/Friendship/Managing Anxiety Courses
Reduced social isolation
Do you feel you have better access to services or support as a result of being in a session?
Yes 92% /No 0%/ I don’t know 8%
Do you feel improved social networks as a result of being in a session?
Yes 88% /No 4%/ I don’t know 8%
Do you feel an increased sense of belonging in your community as a result of being in a session?
Yes 88% /No 8%/ I don’t know 4%
Do you feel less lonely or isolated as a result of being in a session?
Yes 77% /No 15%/ I don’t know 8%
Do you feel you will get involved with something like volunteering regularly as a result of being in a session?
Yes 40% /No 37%/ I don’t know 22%
Improved Aspirations for the future
Do you feel motivated in personal aspirations and goals after being in a session?
Yes 70%/No 11%/ I don’t know 19%
Do you think you will take up volunteer placement/work experience opportunities as a result of attending the sessions?
Yes 25% /No 37%/ I don’t know 37%
Do you feel an increase of skills and knowledge after being in a session?
Yes 70% /No 8% / I don’t know 22%
Improved mental health and wellbeing
Do you feel a reduction of stress, anxiety and/or symptoms of depression when being in a session?
Yes 77% /No 11%/ I don’t know 12%
Do you feel improved mental health or wellbeing as a result of being in a session?
Yes 85% /No 7%/ I don’t know 8%
Do you have increased interpersonal (social, communication and relationship) skills as a result of being in a session?
Yes74% /No 14%/ I don’t know 12%
Do you feel increased resilience and/or self-care as a result of being in a session?
Yes 85% /No 4%/ I don’t know 11%
Do you feel increased self-esteem and confidence as a result of being in a session?
Yes 81% /No 8%/ I don’t know 11%
If applicable - Do you have reduced substance misuse and addictions as a result of being in a session?
Yes 8% /No14%/ NA 78%
Do you feel better able to maintain healthy relationships as a result of being in a session?
Yes 92% /No 0% / I don’t know 8%
Fund connection. Build confidence. Open possibilities.
Help sustain trusted support, practical help and welcoming spaces where people can build relationships, overcome barriers and take their next step.
Fund Safe and Sound Dorset and support our work to reduce isolation, strengthen wellbeing and help women overcome practical barriers. Your support can help sustain the trusted relationships, welcoming spaces and opportunities at the heart of our approach. Get in touch to discuss funding or partnership opportunities.
