Mapping Women’s Services in Lincolnshire

We are thrilled to announce that LincEval (University of Lincoln Health, Wellbeing and Justice Evaluation Unit) and the Lincolnshire Women and Girls Research Network have been awarded a significant commission by the Lincolnshire Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and East Midlands Probation. This project aims to map gender-specific services (women and girls only) across Lincolnshire. We also need your help!

Why This Matters?
During the development of the Lincolnshire Women’s Strategy, which aims to improve outcomes for women and girls at risk of entering the Criminal Justice System, the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership identified a significant gap: the absence of women-specific services in Lincolnshire. Research conducted by University of Lincoln academics, Dr Lyndsey Harris and Dr Lauren Smith, exploring Lincolnshire women’s experiences of the criminal justice system was central in providing the evidence base to support the development of a Lincolnshire Women’s Strategy and the launch of Lincolnshire’s first women’s “centre”: Women’s RISE, (delivered by Lincolnshire Action Trust). Lyndsey and colleagues have worked with Lincolnshire Action Trust and the Women and Girls Strategic Delivery Group to develop a whole systems approach to improve the range of outcomes identified in the Lincolnshire Women’s Strategy Theory of Change.

To support future funding bids, service commissioning, and better identification of gender-specific responses offered by Lincolnshire Concordat Signatories, LincEval has been commissioned to conduct a mapping exercise. This mapping activity will produce an inventory of services and activities that exist across Lincolnshire, which are provided to support women and girls. The identification of gendered specific offerings provided across Lincolnshire will facilitate greater partnership working and choice for women and girls in the county. In summary the aims of mapping are to:

– Identify what current services offer a specific gendered service.
– Identify where a service works with both men and women whether there is a specific womens-only provision.
– Identify the gaps in provision.
– Improve communication of services available to individuals and partners to assist with referrals (and self-referrals).
– Underpin future funding bids and inform future commissioning and investment decisions.

Lincolnshire Women and Girls Research Network at the University of Lincoln have committed to host, design and maintain a repository of the findings of the mapping exercise to ensure the information obtained remains current.

How You Can Help
We need your expertise and insights to make this project a success. Here’s how you can get involved:

– Participate in the Survey if you are over 18, identify as a woman, and reside in Lincolnshire: Share your knowledge about existing women and/or girl specific services, activities, or elements of services within Lincolnshire. Your input is invaluable in helping us create a comprehensive inventory. https://unioflincoln.questionpro.eu/MappingWomensServices

– We kindly ask that you also share the survey link with any women staff, friends or family members who may wish to help share their knowledge of services and/or activities they have accessed in Lincolnshire. We estimate the survey should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete. Please note, participants who have accessed services for support may risk re-traumatisation by being asked to discuss their access of services or taking part in activities following traumatic experiences. The evaluation team believe the risk to participants is minimised as there are minimal descriptive questions asked about their experiences within these services/reasons for accessing support. The overall project, Lincolnshire Women’s Strategy: Mapping Services that Support Women and Girls, has received favourable ethical opinion by the University of Lincoln Ethics Committee [UoL2025_20331]. If you have any questions please contact the research team at LyHarris@lincoln.ac.uk. If you have any further concerns, please contact ethics@lincoln.ac.uk.

– Collaborate and Connect: Collaboration is key to ensuring we capture a complete picture. Please do share the survey, and if you would like to know more about LincEval or Lincolnshire Women and Girls Research Network, please email Lyndsey LyHarris@lincoln.ac.uk.

Together, We Can Make a Difference
By participating in this mapping exercise, you are contributing to a crucial initiative that will help shape the future of services and activities for women and girls in Lincolnshire. Your involvement will ensure that we can provide better support and outcomes for women and girls.

Story submitted by Lyndsey Harris
lyharris@lincoln.ac.uk