About Us
Future Aims and Goals
At the Just For Women Centre, we recognize the need to re-focus our future direction to achieve our objectives within a continually changing financial and policy-driven environment.
We aim to be responsive to future opportunities and prepared to address any upcoming challenges. We continue to expand our knowledge and expertise in women-centred provision and strive to offer high-quality services.
The Just For Women Centre is aware of the challenges faced by the voluntary and community sector due to reductions in public expenditure. As such, we are ready to navigate these challenges and continue providing support.
The Just For Women Centre encourages volunteers, providing training, work experience, and placements. We aim to expand peer-mentoring, facilitate outreach workshops, build business partnerships in County Durham, and enhance organisational skills.
Diversifying funding services to compete for commissioned and procured contracts.
Supporting skilled and motivated staff and volunteers with effective management and development structures.
Exploring investment opportunities for social enterprises, expanding craft products into larger markets, and developing uniform branding and unique selling points.
Researching opportunities of investment for social enterprises, developing craft products into a bigger market, creating uniformed branding and unique selling points.
Meet Our Team
First Point of Contact
Linda
About Linda
Linda Kirk is the visionary founder and director of the Just for Women Centre in Stanley, a sanctuary she established in 2011 with a mission to support vulnerable women through counselling, creative therapy, and community connection.
After leaving a career in social work in 2001, Linda retrained as a depression consultant and mentor, driven by a deep desire to create a safe, welcoming space where women could share their stories and rebuild their lives. She poured her own resources into launching the centre, transforming it from a personal dream into a vital community hub that has since helped thousands of women across the North East.
Under her leadership, the centre has expanded its services to include training programs, mental health support, and even a tearoom and gift shop in its new premises on Thorneyholme Terrace. Linda’s tireless advocacy has earned her national recognition, including a British Citizen Award and she continues to grow the centre through partnerships, funding initiatives and an unshakable commitment to empowering others.
“Beyond my work I am someone who feels at ease in nature and around animals especially horses, whose strength and sensitivity never cease to inspire me.
I am endlessly curious about history – castles, old buildings and the stories etched into stone fascinates me.
My home is my sanctuary, I believe we all should have a corner or calm, somewhere that feels safe, nurturing and deeply personal. Lighting a candle fills the room with soft scent curling up with a good book and cosey chair that invites rest and renewal, recharging in peaceful moments and spending time with my grandchildren, family and friends”
Her passion, resilience, and hands-on approach make her not just a leader, but the heart and soul of the Just for Women Centre. Also, using her experience as a social worker and educational facilitator she is able to mentor and motivate women who need direction in their lives.
As well as picking up numerous awards for her work, Linda regularly appears on radio and television.
Debra
About Debra
Debra Rogan is a dedicated and inspiring figure at the Just for Women Centre in Stanley where she serves as both director and service manager. Her journey with the centre began humbly—initially joining through the Jobcentre as a volunteer, intending to stay for just three months.
But her passion for supporting others quickly became evident and she soon became an integral part of the team. Over the years, Debra has completed numerous qualifications, including Mental Health Awareness and domestic violence, Suicide Awareness training, PTTLS, accessor and has developed and delivered her own empowering courses such as Disappearing Women and Finding Me. She also manages the men’s Cree and leads projects with local schoolgirls, demonstrating her commitment to inclusive community support.
What makes Debra special is her unwavering empathy, creativity, and drive to uplift others—qualities that earned her recognition from Durham County Council Public Health for her outstanding contributions. Beyond the centre, Debra’s green fingers and community spirit have also shone through her participation in the Northumbria in Bloom competition, where she helped secure both Gold and Silver Gilt awards in the past years.
Her work both inside and outside the centre, reflects a deep-rooted dedication to making Stanley a more vibrant, supportive, and beautiful place for all.
Kearna
About Kearna
Kearna is the welcoming face and creative energy behind the Just For Women Centre’s social media presence and day-to-day operations. She first joined the centre as a digital marketing apprentice, quickly making her mark with a fresh perspective and genuine passion for community engagement.
Her growth journey has been deeply rooted in the centre’s ethos of empowerment and wellbeing, and she recently added another accomplishment to her toolkit which is completing a Level 2 Neuroscience course offered at the centre, deepening her understanding of the mind and mental health. Outside the office, Kearna is a strong advocate for wellbeing in both body and mind.
She’s deeply interested in how lifestyle choices impact mental health, often sharing tips and insights on nurturing wellbeing across the centre’s platforms. Her personal practices include staying active through wild swimming, attending the gym, bouldering and hiking in the Lake District where she finds peace and inspiration in nature. Her love of the outdoors mirrors her outlook grounded, vibrant, and full of heart.
Kearna’s friendly and approachable presence makes her a cornerstone of the team. Whether she’s chatting with visitors, coordinating workshops, or curating thoughtful content online, she brings warmth, positivity, and a contagious enthusiasm that uplifts everyone around her.
Awards
Global Wellness Summit
Linda Kirk, founder of the Just For Women Centre in Stanley, achieved a remarkable milestone in 2024 when she was selected as a recipient of the prestigious Susie Ellis Scholarship for Equity in Wellness, awarded by the Global Wellness Institute.
This scholarship enabled her to attend the Global Wellness Summit in St Andrews, Scotland, a week-long gathering of global leaders, innovators, and changemakers in the wellness industry. Linda’s selection placed her among a small, elite group of international recipients chosen from over 300 applicants across 60 countries—a testament to her outstanding work supporting the mental and physical health of women and girls affected by trauma and abuse.
As part of the scholarship, Linda was also named a Global Wellness Ambassador, a role that recognizes her as a leader in the worldwide movement to promote wellness and equity. This ambassadorship is more than a title—it grants her access to a global network of wellness professionals and platforms to amplify her voice and the mission of the Just For Women Centre. Being honored in this way is a significant achievement, not only for Linda personally but for the entire community she represents.
It affirms that grassroots, trauma-informed care and community healing values at the heart of her Centre are vital to the global wellness conversation. Her journey from Stanley to the world stage is a powerful example of how local action can drive global impact.
