About us
Perthshire Women’s Aid offer specialist knowledge and understanding of the issues that surround domestic abuse for women, children and young people. We strive to ensure that our services are easy to access throughout Perthshire and we provide tailored support to individual needs.
Support
We provide support to Women, Children and Young People. Support is provided in a non-judgemental and sensitive way, whether you are still in the relationship or experiencing difficulties now the relationship has ended. We can help you either face to face at our premises, over the phone, or by arranging a confidential visit at a place of your choice, we also use modern day digital tools to stay in touch. Support can be accessed on a self-referral basis or via referral from community organisations.
- We provide emotional and practical support.
- Signposting to relevant services
- We can offer access to refuge
- Peer support
- Advocacy
- Safety Planning
- Group work
- Crisis intervention
- Counselling
Perthshire Women’s Aid understand that seeking help can be a daunting first step to take, but we are here to support you in whatever way we can.
Since working with you, my life has completely changed. I feel more confident than I’ve ever done before, I don’t feel guilty, and I don’t feel it was my fault.
Outreach Service User
Our Board, Staff Team and Volunteers
Our organisation is part of the Scottish Women’s Aid Network, we are regulated by OSCR, Companies House, The Scottish Social Services Council and The Care Inspectorate.
We are proudly funded by Perth & Kinross Council, The Scottish Government, The Big Lottery, The Gannochy Trust, The Robertson Trust and Bank of Scotland.
Carole Ferguson Walker
Chair
Carole joined the PWA board in 2019 Carole is a Scottish Solicitor, originally from Oban, but currently living in Kinross and working in Dunfermline. She qualified in 2002, and has a varied background in private practice and as an in-house lawyer, with a focus on regulatory law. Carole is delighted to have become a Trustee with Perthshire Women's Aid. She has a keen interest in equality and the protection and promotion of the rights of women and children.
Jane McNicol
Jane joined PWA in 2015 filling an identified gap following completion of a skills matrix for legal expertise on the Board. She is a Solicitor and Notary Public with over a decade of experience in dealing with all aspects of civil court work, in particular family and child law issues. Having come into contact with PWA service users in her professional role, she was keen to join the Board when the opportunity arose. She is a member of the Family Law Association and a past Convener of the local Faculty of Solicitors' Continuing Practice Development Committee. She is regularly appointed by the local Court to safeguard the interests of vulnerable adults in applications under Adults with Incapacity legislation.
Ruth Fraser
Treasurer
Ruth joined the Board as Treasurer in December 2015. Ruth has an extensive and varied experience of Finance having been a graduate trainee accountant with the Scottish Executive. In this period, Ruth gained a postgraduate and professional qualification in Audit, Risk and Compliance. She was employed in Central Government for 4 years before moving to the Charitable Sector. Subsequently, Ruth has held senior Finance roles in two medium sized charitable organisations based in Perthshire for over 10 years. Having very recently moved to the commercial sector, Ruth maintains a strong interest in Charity Accounting and acts as Treasurer for a number of local organisations.
Lynsey Kidd
Lynsey became a trustee of PWA in 2019, she has worked across the public and voluntary sectors in roles focused on improving communities and opportunities for families and young people Lynsey lives in Perth and when not working is kept busy with her two young children.
Mary Notman
Mary joined the board in 2019, Mary has worked in Perth & Kinross since 1994, initially as a Care Manager in both urban and rural areas until 2005. Prior to this she worked as a registered nurse and midwife for 16 years. Prior to retirement Mary was the Adult Support and Protection Co-ordinator for Perth & Kinross Council and a member of the Violence Against Women Partnership. In 2005 she was appointed as a training officer for protecting vulnerable adults. Mary holds a Post Graduate diploma in Business Management, a Masters Business management and a Social work honours degree.
Laura Mclaren
Laura Mclaren joined the PWA board in 2019, Laura was born and brought up in Inverness, she achieved an MA Hons in English and History from the University of Aberdeen in 2005. After graduation Laura moved to Perth and started work as a claims assessor for an insurance company, before moving on to an administrative role at a local financial services company. In 2013 Laura achieved a PG Dip in Museum Studies from the University of St Andrews, which led to employment as a trainee auctioneer at a Perth based auction house. Following this, in 2015, Laura has been employed most recently by the Whiskey Auctioneer and is currently kept very busy with her 2 daughters and is an active member of the local, Perth Women’s Collective.
Louise Gillies
Louise Gillies joined the PWA board in 2019, Louise is a Business Advisory Manager for a local Chartered Accountants. Louise specialises in the audit of Third Sector accounts. She has a portfolio of clients that she manages that are predominately made up of charities, both corporate and non-corporate, audit and non-audit. Louise is also kept very active with her 2 young children however has enjoyed doing some sponsorship for charities in the past having previously taken part in the Kiltwalk.
Lynne Rennie Smith
Lynne has 30 years experience as a generalist HR practitioner and is leads the HR function for a national bank. A values based Senior Human Resources Executive with extensive experience of successfully engaging senior stakeholders whilst leading cultural transformation programmes, by utilising HR data and cloud based technology (Workday) to enable fact based decision making. With a growth mindset and an eye for innovation, Lynne has a proven track record of delivering a high value, customer focused service as an exceptional people leader for SME and large corporate organisations, her skillset brings a wealth of knowledge to our charity.
Our Team
Our staff team consists of 21 very passionate employees. We have a range of diverse skills across our team including a multi-lingual Practitioner and an BSL Advocate to support people from the Deaf Community who are affected by Gender Based Violence and Abuse.
Volunteers
We have 5 Student Counsellor Volunteers who kindly offer their time to our organisation to ensure that we can provide excellent Counselling services to Women impacted by abuse and trauma.
How you can help
We are always keen to hear from people who are interested in working with us, check out our vacancies section for any live opportunities.
Success stories
We’re extremely grateful for those who have bravely shared the following stories, which highlight how we can help.
Your refuge gave me the first and only opportunity to escape the abuse my children and I were still part of. As I lived near the children’s father I felt I couldn’t escape them not seeing him, and after a year of being around him with the kids every Saturday my mental health completely plummeted.
I would like to thank you. As a victim of abuse I found it really helpful and learned a lot. I can now recognise abusive personalities and avoid to put myself in abusive relationships in the future. It helped me understand what I’ve been living in and why it was so wrong. Also I have learned to see early signs of abuse. Thank you so much to Women’s Aid Perth for letting supporting me in my native language of Polish. There are so many women who will get benefit of it as they struggle with English and also talking about feelings in my own language is more comfortable.
Our partners
Our partners help us play a vital role in supporting women and children affected by domestic abuse.
