Our Story
From shared experience to collective power.
Her Circle was born from a deep understanding that motherhood isn't always simple, and that too many women face it alone, judged, or unheard.
What began as a small peer support project has grown into a movement; a space where women can be seen, supported, and empowered to lead change.
Rooted in lived experience, Her Circle exists to challenge stigma, reshape systems, and make sure no woman navigating complex motherhood is ever forgotten.
2021
Became a formal entity offering peer support groups for women who had experienced child removal
Conducted our first research paper 'Still A Mam' in partnership with Fulfilling Lives Newcastle Gateshead
2022
2023
Our team expanded and so did our services. We began offering holistic wellbeing for women.
Professor Karen Broadhurst OBE took the position of Chair of the Board broadening our influence to a national level
2024
Rebranded to Her Circle and expanded the definition of who we work with to 'women who experience complex motherhood'
2025
Prior to 2021 Her Circle existed as an informal network of dedicated professional who had all noticed the increase year on year of women having children removed from their care. They had also noted this was not due to abuse, but because mothers had unmet needs which were left unaddressed and created vulnerabilities for children.
This group of passionate women came together as a think tank to influence change from 2015. Their professional reflections and insights were shared in other professional or political forums to effect change for women.
Our founders included:
Current trustee - Laura Seebohm CEO of Wearside Women in Need
Current trustee - Angela Bolam - Retired Consultant Psychiatrist
Current trustee - Suzie Jackson Consultant Obstetrician
Founder - Cris McCurly Head of International Family Law and a Partner of Ben Hoare Bell LLP
Founder - Sarah Clark - Midwife
In 2020 Amy Van Zyl joined the working group with the intention of delivering services for women at risk of child removal or who had experienced it. The women we served then created our road map for future direct support, research and influencing. Her Circle is an organization which centres the women we work for, in the design of our service. We learn from their experience and use our professional power and privilege to lift them up.
True Co-Investment.