Meeting the Needs of Women through Workshop Weekends

‘From childhood on, women’s moral sense emphasises caring for others. This orientation to the experiences, needs and wishes of others leads women to attend to and nurture other human beings and to provide them with what has become known as “social support”’ (Belle, 1982). This provision of crucial support is often at a cost to the women involved. This paper describes a community outreach project which has been running for nine years with the primary aim of renewing and reinforcing women’s feelings of self worth. The project involves twice-yearly residential weekends attended by an average of one hundred and twenty women. The history and evolution of the groups and some possible reasons why they work will be discussed.