What we do

The charity has continued to operate since August 2000, helping women who suffer from Leprosy in the slums of Nagpur, India. Leah and Usha met in 1997 and established the organisation START, which initially operated on the back of a scooter using funds from their own pockets.

START has since come under the umbrella of its sister organisation Women In Need (WIN)*, extending the work already set up through START. In treating patients with Leprosy, it soon became clear that so many other women in the slums were suffering with a variety of health and socio-economic problems. They too were abandoned by society and desperately needed help.

We are now able to treat women with mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia and severe depression, those who have contracted HIV/AIDS through circumstances out of their control, even women who have been abandoned by their husbands and have no means to support themselves or their children.

Due to so many kind donations, we are now treating many women living in Nagpur and beyond the city. Using better transport, we now have a rehabilitation centre and operate two shelters at Mahalgi Nagar and Dattapur.

Whether an Indian woman requires medical treatment, the means to set up her own business or simply needs a shoulder to cry on, we are there to support them in whatever way we can and to reassure them they are not alone.

For more details on how WIN helps these women, please download our PDF brochure.

* (Still known as START under India’s Charity Commission – Public Trust No. 19706).