The Esther Project was established in 2011 and officially registered as a CIC in 2013, with the purpose of supporting local women facing challenges related to homelessness. The goal was to create a safe haven where women could seek refuge, recovery, and rehabilitation.

Between 2011-2013, our founder, Lianne Kirkman, was also involved in setting up a project called "Helping Hands" while working as a community support worker for a church in Leamington Spa. Unfortunately, at the end of 2013, Lianne went through a significant mental health crisis that forced her leave her role and also put her plans for The Esther Project on hold.

After Lianne had recovered, she felt compelled to establish Helping Hands as a registered charity after a generous local lady, Joanne Hartley (who amazingly was also running a project in Kenilworth with the same name), offered Lianne £250.00 and a storage unit full of donations because her family were emigrating to America.

With the support of a few friends and her husband, Lianne formed a board of trustees and began developing the Helping Hands Community Project as a registered charity in 2015.

They started by running a soup kitchen, since the previous one operated by Leamington Christian Mission had closed the year before, and they also continued to provide assistance to local individuals and families, furnishing households with items donated by the local community.

Over the course of 9.5 years under Lianne's leadership, the initial £250.00 grew to a phenomenal £2million (thanks to the generosity of the local community and grant funders), enabling the charity to help thousands of individuals and families in the area through a number of projects and initiatives that were set up, to provide "a hand up" to those grappling with the causes and effects of homelessness. In recognition of its work, the charity was honoured with the Volunteers Kings Award in 2024.

In April 2023, 'Esther House' was established under the Helping Hands banner as a pilot project, providing a safe haven for women in need of support and accommodation. In February 2024, Lianne and the Helping Hands board of trustees made a strategic and collective decision to separate the two projects into distinct charitable organisations.

With the two projects now separated, and following the remarkable success of both, Lianne made the decision to step down from her CEO role at Helping Hands, so she could refocus her time on her original passion, developing The Esther Project as a separate entity.

During her time leading Helping Hands, Lianne recognised the urgent need for creating gender-specific, trauma informed spaces, allowing individuals to have a safe place to heal from past hurts in a trauma-informed environment.

The Esther Projects mission is to encompass a holistic approach to empowering women, not only by offering accommodation, but by also giving access to mental health support, counselling services, addiction recovery, skills training, and resources in a gender-specific environment.

The future vision for The Esther Project includes expanding gender-specific supported living accommodation to reach more individuals in need.

Additionally, plans are in motion to establish Esther Retreat Farm, a rural property where women with more complex needs/traumas can retreat to heal and find peace in a serene environment conducive to their recovery journey.

These initiatives align with The Esther Project's commitment to providing tailored support and resources to empower women on their path to healing and transformation.