About Us

Her-Place Charitable Trust (formerly Motherwell Cheshire) is a charity run by women, for women. We exist to encourage, inspire and empower women and girls across Cheshire to improve their mental health and wellbeing, and to challenge the stigma around it. From our Women’s Centre in Crewe town centre plus two community hubs (Winsford and Wistaston), we offer one-to-one support, counselling, peer support groups and drop-ins. We have worked with more than 1,000 local women, and many of the women we support go on to volunteer with us. Our approach is trauma-informed and relational. Alongside direct support, we train professionals and campaign for fairer systems for women and families. One of our key projects is Believe-in-Her.

Believe-in-Her is an award-winning service dedicated to supporting women whose children are on a Child Protection Plan or they are on the Born into Care pathway. We support women through challenging times, offering compassionate, non-judgemental, and practical support tailored to each individual’s needs.

At the heart of our work is a bespoke support plan, based upon the flower tool and shaped around each woman’s unique circumstances. We provide one-to-one, face-to-face support and can attend meetings to help ensure women’s voices are heard. Our approach is rooted in partnership and supporting (not steering), so women feel empowered and informed every step of the way.

Our incredible team work tirelessly to support clients, expand our services to reach more women and campaign for change through our community of practice.

Our Vision

To empower Mums’ navigating social care systems to have their voices heard, believed, and respected.

Our Mission

Our mission is to encourage, inspire and empower HER by supporting Mums with their emotional and mental health, resilience and confidence.

Through education, advocacy, and reassurance, we strive to amplify HER voice, challenge systemic barriers, and create an environment where every woman’s story is believed and respected.

Meet the Team

Kate Blakemore – Founder and Chief Executive

Kate Blakemore is the CEO and founder of Her-Place Charitable Trust, formerly Motherwell Cheshire, and a passionate advocate for women’s health, wellbeing and equality. The Believe project was the inspiration behind founding the charity, driven by her determination to improve support for mothers involved with social care and to challenge the inequalities they face. At the heart of Kate’s mission is her belief that all mums deserve the opportunity to enjoy motherhood, with dignity, compassion and the right support around them.

With a background in counselling and extensive experience supporting women experiencing trauma, domestic abuse and complex mental health needs, Kate is committed to creating a more compassionate, trauma-informed community. She has developed the Wellbeing Flower, a tool designed to support reflection, self-awareness and wellbeing, and has now trained over 64 Believe Ambassadors to use it in their work supporting mothers.

Recently trained as a Compassion-Focused Therapist, Kate is passionate about improving the way professionals and services understand and support women, particularly those navigating pregnancy, motherhood and social care involvement. She sits on the national Research in Practice group, which focuses on sharing learning and promoting best practice when supporting mothers involved with social care. She also sits on the Cheshire Women in Criminal Justice Steering Group, contributing to wider discussions about the experiences and needs of women within the criminal justice system.

Reducing inequalities for women is Kate’s driving mission. She is particularly passionate about women’s health inequalities and ensuring that women’s voices, lived experiences and needs are recognised in the services and systems that affect their lives. Through her leadership of Her-Place and the development of the Believe project, she continues to champion earlier intervention, compassionate support and meaningful change for mothers and families.

Kate is also an author of Mum’s the Word: The Mothering Journey, which explores the challenges and experiences of motherhood. Through her writing, advocacy and work with professionals and communities, she continues to promote understanding, challenge stigma and champion the belief that every mother deserves to be heard, supported and treated with compassion.

Lisa Best – Believe Support Advocate

I am Lisa Best, the Advocate for the Believe in Her Project. Prior to working on the Believe Project, I worked as a Family Support Worker, where I helped to assess the needs of families by talking to them to understand their situations and create practical support plans.

I have many years of experience working with women and families, and I really enjoy working on Believe. I am very passionate about ensuring that all women have a voice. We all need support during the hardest times of our lives, and I am here to support and advocate for you through those times of need, when you may not feel your voice is being heard.

I will help you to gain confidence in your own abilities, and I will do this in a warm and compassionate way.

In my spare time, I am a keen crafter and I love going on long walks with my Labrador, Lanky.

Meet our Counsellors

Our counsellors give mums a safe space to talk through their thoughts and feelings with someone who is there just for them. Many of the women we support are living with the effects of trauma, loss and poor mental health, and social care involvement can make this feel even heavier. Counselling works alongside the practical and emotional support from each mum’s Believe advocate. When a mum and her advocate feel it could help, the advocate can link her with one of our counsellors at a time that feels right for her. Our counsellors can also support mums during pregnancy, including those facing the possibility of separation from their baby. Sessions are confidential, and counsellors explain at the start the rare situations where they may need to share information to keep someone safe.

Meet our Patrons

Charity Patron

Sir John Timpson

Sir John Timpson was educated at Oundle and Nottingham University.

The Timpson family business, founded by Sir John’s great grandfather in the 1860’s, was taken over in 1973, but 10 years later Sir John led a £42m management buyout. In 1987 he sold the shoe shops and concentrated on building the shoe repairing and key cutting business, which has diversified into engraving, watch repairs, dry cleaning and photo processing.

Timpson now has over 2000 branches nationwide, including the Max Spielmann, Johnsons the Cleaners and Snappy Snaps brands. The Group has a turnover of over £300m and profits of over £20m. It is a private business wholly owned by Sir John Timpson and his family. Timpson is recognised for its creative approach to employee engagement and innovative work helping ex-offenders – it is the UK’s most active employer of people from prison. In 2018 Sir John chaired an expert panel that made recommendations to government on future plans for Town Centres.

Sir John was married to his wife Alex for 47 years. He has talked openly about his grief over her death in 2016. He has five children Victoria (50), James (46), Edward (44), together with Oliver (43) and Henry (30).

Sir John and his wife were also foster carers for 31 years, during which time they fostered 90 children.

In 2000 he wrote ‘Dear James,’ which passes on to his son James, now Timpson’s CEO, the lessons learned in 25 years as a Chief Executive. A management maverick, he describes his business philosophy in ‘How to Ride a Giraffe’, ‘Upside Down Management’ and ‘Ask John’. ‘High Street Heroes’ was published in 2015 and ‘Under Orders’ is the diary of a racehorse owners’ husband. His latest book, ‘Keys to Success’ gives 50 tips from a management maverick.

He has a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph.

In 2004 he was awarded the CBE in the Birthday Honours List for Services to the Retail Sector, and in 2017 he was awarded a knighthood for Services to Business and Fostering.

Believe Patron

Sally Carman

Sally Carman is one of Britain’s leading female actors having stared in many well known TV productions.

Sally is an established actress, who attended the LAMDA drama school in London.

For the Believe project the roll that stands out was ‘Abi Franklin’ in Coronation Street. Sally’s character represents the amazing women that we support. These mum’s are very often misunderstood, living with mental health conditions after experiencing traumatic events, with a lack of appropriate support.