Rivers LPC is a local, independent charity for women based in Crawley, West Sussex. Rivers LPC was officially formed in 2014, having existed since 2011 as a community group.
It exists to break down barriers women face when seeking help and support; women who may be excluded from mainstream support services and/or find it hard to engage with such services due to being economically, socially isolated; or are isolated due to health issues or language barriers.
Many local women miss out on vital support available in the community and have not been able to find assistance from other organisations, mainly because they are unaware of the existence of these organisations or there is mistrust due to cultural differences. Many of the women who Rivers LPC supports simply need help without the involvement of formal authorities, or statutory bodies.
Our Programmes
As a charity, we have now grown and provide support for women across three local community centres within Crawley (Langley Green, Broadfield and Bewbush). We have two well-established programmes that are delivered with the support of our mentors (volunteers):
Our Learning Programme offers friendly and welcoming weekly learning sessions for women who speak little or no English. The sessions offer women the opportunity to enhance their life and communication skills through conversational learning and peer support.
Each weekly session is designed to assist learners in working towards inclusion to the wider community, overcoming barriers around economic employment and opportunities, and opportunities to address other issues relating to women in the local community.
- The Rivers-SPACE Programme
We recognised early on that delivering a community-based English language programme on it’s own was not the only support that local women needed. This led to the creation of the RIVERS-SPACE Programme (also known as SPACE), which offers a signposting service including, but not limited to, the following issues:
- Confidence Building
- Emotional Support
- Health, Wellbeing and Safety
- Immigration, Housing and Welfare
- Maintaining Healthy Relationships
If you need help with any of the above, then please contact us.
We also work in close partnership with other voluntarily organisations, and welcome any offers to help us facilitate training or awareness courses and confidence building opportunities for women. Please contact us to discuss.