This week we had our first expert panel meeting as part of our Change It; Progress to Success.

Change It; Progress to Success is an 8-session confidence and resilience building programme led by The Women’s Organisation that aims to inspire women to feel more positive about what they can achieve.

The programme was designed in collaboration with Liverpool City Council Children’s Services and the Children’s Centres to benefit over 500 local women. We decided to pull together an expert panel from various fields to offer their specialised input and recommendations for the development of the project.


The panel includes representatives from Job Centre Plus, Troubled Families Team, Nugent Care, Health Teams, Liverpool In Work, and Local Council. They listened whilst we told them about just how we have been supporting the women of Liverpool through Change It; Progress to Success. We were also delighted to have two women who have participated in the programme as panel members. They were able to make contributions based on their own personal experience of Change It; Progress to Success and will continue to help steer the programme as it develops. Who better to share with us what our women need , than the women themselves!

The meeting offered our panel an insight into the context of the programme, including the research and development that went into the bidding process, as well as the programme we have designed and are actively delivering throughout the city to meet the needs of women.

We also took some time to reflect on the story and outcomes of the programme so far. Up to now we have delivered two rounds of Change It; Progress to Success and of that, 80% of attendees claim to have more confidence in building their own self-belief; 84% feel more able to say ‘no’ to things they don’t want; and 98% have improved trust and confidence in dealing with support agencies.

Here are some comments made prior to starting the programme:

Here are some comments made when finishing programme:

We want the panel to be our champions as well as our critical friends. As we look beyond this programme we hope that it can reach out further to more women who we know need our support. The group will meet again in November for another meeting – stay posted for updates!

We are currently recruiting for two four-week programmes over summer, throughout both August and September.

If you are a woman and would like to book a place or find out more about the programme, or if you are an organisation and would like to refer someone onto the programme, or contact a member of the Change It team about opportunities, please contact a member of our engagement team on 0151 706 8111 or email hello@thewo.org.uk.