About us
We are a comprehensive service for women and children affected by domestic violence in the Meath area.
What we do
Our services include a 24-hour / 365 day a year helpline and refuge accommodation, outreach, counselling, court accompaniment, children’s programme and advocacy.
Our purpose
We exist to:
Provide a space where women and children living with abuse in the home can find the options available to them for their safety.
Support, advocate for, and alongside, women dealing with abuse of themselves and their children.
Our values
- Women and Child Centered
All our work is led by the needs of women and children, and we bring their voice to everything we do. We are committed and passionate about women and children’s human rights.
- Inclusive
We embrace diversity and strive to be a fully inclusive organisation in who we work with, who works for us and how we do our work.
- Accountable
We strive to always achieve the highest standards across the organisation.
- Trustworthy
We act with empathy, compassion, and integrity.
Our Impact last Year
193,630 reach on social media.
Our funding
We are grateful to receive donations from the public and a range of other philanthropic supporters, including Meath County Council, Community Foundation Ireland, Meta and HSE National Lottery. Find out more about how you or your company can Get Involved and help us grow our impact.
Who we are
Frances Haworth
Frances is CEO at Meath Women's Refuge & Support Services.
Frances joined Meath Women's Refuge & Support Services in 2022 and served as Development, Impact and Policy Manager before taking on the role of CEO in September 2024. Frances has along track record of leadership in the non-profit sector, with significant experience in philanthropy, research and international development. Prior to joining Meath Women's Refuge & Support Services, Frances worked as a senior leader with Community Foundation Ireland, Trócaire and Comber Foundation and as a consultant. She is passionate about realising the potential of people to affect positive positive change in their society, with a particular focus on the areas of children's rights and gender equality. Frances has a MSc in Applied Social Research from Trinity College Dublin and is a former board member of Trim Family Resource Centre.
Sinead Gogan
Sinead is Chief Human Resources Officer with Deloitte Ireland.
Working with Deloitte, Sinead has responsibility for the firm people and purpose strategy. Sinead is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development and holds post-graduate qualifications in employment law and alternate dispute resolution. In addition to her voluntary role with Meath Women's Refuge & Support Services Sinead was appointed as an ordinary member to the Board of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in Ireland.
Ruth Keegan
Ruth Keegan is HR Director with Novo Nordisk.
Ruth has worked in HR for many years across the public and private sector. She is currently HR Director for Novo Nordisk Ireland having previously held senior HR roles in Mylan, Vodafone and Sanofi. Ruth has just completed a MSc in organisational psychology from DCU and is a chartered member of the CIPD.
Michele Sweeney
Michelle is Director with Opperman Associates, Architects.
Michelle has an extensive career in architecture and working in the architecture & planning industry. As Director with Oppermann Associates, Michele has responsibility for design and in particular in relation to the company's leisure and schools work. She has in excess of twenty years experience in the design and implementation of large and complex projects both in Ireland and internationally.
Claire Sheeran
Claire is Communications Manager with Avista.
Claire is a communications professional with 10 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector. She is currently Communications Manager with Avista (Formerly Daughters of Charity Disability Support services) and has previously worked in the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation and Headline Ireland. Claire is a proud Meath woman and has served as a Board member with Meath Women’s Refuge since March 2021.
Richelle Manning
Richelle is Investor Relations and Credit Rating Manager for ESB.
Richelle previously held a number of roles in the ESB Group including Finance Business Partner, Networks Governance Manager, and most recently Business Pricing Manager, Customer Solutions. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, and previously worked with KPMG in Dublin.
Sinead Christian
Sinead has served on our board since 2018 and is undertaking her second term. She has an extensive background in marketing, management and fundraising in the private and charity sector, including with the Irish Wheelchair Association, Make-A-Wish and Trócaire. Sinead also serves on the fundraising and communications committee of the board. Sinead is a strong supporter of the impact and effectiveness of the services in the community and passionate ally on delivering ongoing development and engagement with supporters.
Liam Keane
Liam is an established solicitor with a practice based in Meath for almost 30 years.
Liam has been State Solicitor for County Meath since January 2019. He is an Accredited Mediator (Civil & Commercial and Family) and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Liam has been involved in the GAA all his life as a player and as an administrator at club, county and national level. He is also a member of the panel of arbitrators of Sport Dispute Solutions Ireland – the Sports Arbitration body established by the Federation of Irish Sport.
Meabh Smith
Meabh is Communications Director with the Construction Industry Federation.
Meabh has over twenty years of communications experience providing strategic oversight and management of communications including media relation, integrated campaign management, digital marketing, branding, website development, social media engagement, event management and publications. Meabh has worked across many sectors including financial reinsurance, the disability sector and overseas development sectors, where she managed public communications campaigns on domestic and international issues.
Our History
Meath Women’s Refuge and Support Services was one of the first women’s refuges in Ireland when established in 1987. A group of pioneering local women conducted research and discovered that domestic violence was one of four key issues affecting women in Meath. These women went on to establish a refuge which was initially staffed on a voluntary basis. In 1990 we secured ongoing state and local authority funding to establish the service on a permanent footing.
For over thirty-five years we have supported and advocated for thousands of women and children affected by domestic violence in Meath. There has been much progress in this time in terms of understanding and awareness, but domestic violence and abuse of women and children is still widespread in Irish society.
Our Structure and Governance
Meath Women’s Refuge and Support Services is an independent non-profit charity (Registered Charity Number: 20021634) as well as a Company Limited by Guarantee (Company Number 127494). Our organisation is overseen by a voluntary board of directors bringing expertise from business, social and community sectors. Our independent board is recruited using a transparent board recruitment process and the CEO of Meath Women’s Refuge and Support Services reports to the board. Board members are not remunerated for their time and work. The day-to- day management of the organisation is undertaken by our CEO who oversees a team of approximately 26 staff working in our refuge, outreach programme and our child services.
The organisation undertakes an annual audit and from 2019 onwards our audited accounts have been prepared in accordance with SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting).