We are a Scottish women’s charity funding grassroots organisations that support women and girls across Scotland. By directing resources where other funders cannot, we ensure vital support reaches those who need it most.
We identify, fund and strengthen grassroots women’s organisations across Scotland. We handle assessment, grant panels and reporting, making funding for women and girls simple, transparent and high-impact.
Across Scotland, women and girls continue to face structural inequality; from poverty and violence to limited access to leadership, economic opportunity and safe community spaces.
Small, community-led women’s organisations are often best placed to respond. They understand local barriers in Perth, Inverness, Glasgow, Caithness, the Borders and beyond. They build trust. They reach women where other services cannot.
Yet these grassroots organisations frequently lack access to sustainable funding.
That is where we step in.
By providing grants for women and girls in Scotland, we make sure funding reaches local organisations delivering:
Every pound goes further because we identify and fund the grassroots organisations that reach women and girls where other funders cannot.
Our Board of Trustees brings expertise in philanthropy, community development, communications and women’s equality, ensuring strong governance and lasting impact across Scotland.
Sue is now retired and was previously the Director of One Parent Families Scotland. Sue has extensive experience of working with other women’s organisations, including chairing Engender for many years. Sue is presently chairperson of FirstHand Lothian and a Team Leader at a Trussell Trust Food bank.
Sue’s partner Marian Thomas was responsible for setting up the Women’s Fund, originally in partnership with Foundation Scotland and Engender. Sue has been involved with WFS since its inception. Sadly Marian died in 2011 but Sue and Marian’s family have continued to support WFS including as donors after her death.
Judy is on the Board of Directors for Wiston Lodge. Trustee for the Pump House Trust and engaged in various philanthropic ventures.
Judy is a member of Schiehallion (Giving Circle) and the Network for Social Change.
Judy has also served on the Steering and Grant making Group for the Women’s Fund from 2002, and then on the Foundation General Grants Panel for two years.
Anne has over 30 years’ international experience working in the field of equality and human rights and has managed key equality projects at local authorities in Scotland, Save the Children Fund and at the Equal Opportunities Commission.
Since setting up her own consultancy business, Anne has undertaken a number of varied consultancy projects specializing in equality, project design and planning, research, and monitoring and evaluation. Anne has developed and designed training and learning materials on equality issues including the Equality Duty; the economics of equality; equality in employment policies, occupational segregation, and equal pay. She also has training and policy development experience on gender-based violence.
Anne has co-authored numerous publications including, guidance on economic development and equal opportunities; the contribution of childcare to economic development; policy and gender based violence; and practical guidance for businesses on issues of legal compliance and best practice in equality.
In her role as Policy Manager at WES, Anne has led research into the business landscape for women in Scotland, the UK and internationally and supported policy development and best practice identification. She continues to run her own consultancy business and is a member of the International Association of Feminist Economists, the Scottish Women’s Budget Group and the T20, the think-tank of the G20.
Anne joined the Board in 2019 and has been sharing her policy and business expertise.
Rebecca has run her own businesses since 1999. She successfully ran her own recruitment business from 1999 to 2008 and set up her coaching and training business in 2009. In 2000, Rebecca established the first ever legal awards ceremony in Scotland, successfully running the Scottish Legal Awards for seven years in conjunction with her other businesses.
In 2018, Rebecca founded Tricres. She had developed a series of models and frameworks which support the growth of small to medium sized businesses and originally formed the business with her older brother Nick to share this expertise with the world. Realising that with just two people, this was slightly ambitious, she launched the Tricres Partner Programme in January 2021 to teach other coaches and consultants to do what she does. This evolved in 2022 into the Kick Ass Culture Coach and Consultant, an online training programme for business coaches and consultants.
Her expertise lies in developing culture, engagement and performance in organisations and teaching others how to deliver that content to their clients. Rebecca’s sweet spot is developing the board and senior teams providing businesses with strong succession and a platform for growth.
Rebecca is the author of “How to Outshine the Rest” (available ). Rebecca has been personally recommended by Dr Richard Bandler, co-creator of NLP as an NLP Trainer.
Ruth spent 8 years as a civil servant in the Scottish Government. She gained an excellent insight into policy making and delivery through postings in Health and Social Care, where she promoted an assets based approach to service delivery to tackle the root causes of health inequalities; and 2 years as Assistant Private Secretary to the First Minister of Scotland.
Ruth then secured a secondment to Scottish Development International & spent 4 years working for them in Asia, firstly in Singapore and then Hong Kong. She helped Scottish companies increase their food and drink exports to South East Asia and greater China while driving demand amongst business contacts in these markets.
Ruth has currently taken a break from paid employment to focus on raising her young children. She also enjoys running, getting stuck into a good book & exploring different countries.
Lauren Jones believes every social impact organisation’s story deserves a brand that feels like home. As the founder of Brand by Boudica, she guides visionaries through the often overwhelming world of branding. With a knack for untangling the complicated knots of brand identity, she transforms inspiring visions into brands that speak (sometimes even shout) your truth.
She joins the Women’s Fund for Scotland with excitement at being part of driving real change for women and girls across Scotland, in supporting the organisation craft its own story that connects and drives action.
Yvonne is an experienced digital marketer, with an extensive background in third sector projects. Yvonne has organised and facilitated many not for profit events, to support female entrepreneurs and has supported many digital launch and rebrand campaigns.
Bio coming soon.
Inspired by the global women’s fund movement, we began with a clear belief: the progress of women and girls is a benefit for all.
Since our first grant round, we have grown into a national funder supporting grassroots organisations from the Highlands and Islands to Scotland’s cities. Demand has risen year on year, a clear signal of both need and trust.
Today, we are recognised for our expertise, strong relationships, and proven results; connecting donors with the local groups strengthening women and girls every day.
Our mission remains the same: direct resources to the grassroots organisations often overlooked by other funders, ensuring vital support reaches those who need it most.
Explore our annual reports to see how we award grants to women’s organisations in Scotland, where funding goes, and the measurable difference grassroots groups are making in their communities.
Support women and girls in Scotland by funding the local organisations creating safe spaces, opportunity and lasting change.
