NLMWA
Our story
How a mothers’ group became one of North Lanarkshire’s most trusted community charities.
1994
It started with a room and a question
A handful of mothers in Airdrie and Coatbridge wanted somewhere their children could play, their neighbours could talk, and they could learn without being made to feel like outsiders. That was the whole plan.
Thirty years on, the room is bigger, the question is the same.
What grew from those early gatherings is a charity that runs classes, supports families in crisis, celebrates festivals with the whole neighbourhood, and trains women to lead in their own communities.
How we grew
- Mothers’ gatherings and a Sunday school grew into a full weekly timetable of classes for children and adults
- Food parcels and a listening ear became structured family support, advocacy and befriending
- We registered as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation, and opened our doors to women of every background
- Partnerships followed: NHS Health Improvement, Police Scotland, Scottish Prison Services, the Lanarkshire Food and Health Partnership, Interfaith Scotland and more
- Projects took us further afield — heritage work with Traces of Empire, leadership programmes like ElectHer, and trips from the Antonine Wall to Loch Lomond
- Volunteers gave us marketing, web, fundraising and community engagement skills we could never have bought
Where we are going
Our ambition is a permanent home for this work: a centre in North Lanarkshire, built around the women who use it, where any family can walk in and find what they need.
Everything we run today — the classes, the food parcels, the counselling, the celebrations — is a step towards that.
Want to be part of what comes next?
Call 07445 405350 or email info@nlmwa.co.uk — we would love to hear from you.
