Imagine for a moment you are Paula*.

You were staying in a disused garage but it was demolished by police recently due to anti-social behaviour and drug use. So now you're 'homeless' and live in a warehouse loading bay with your partner.

There is a Women's Centre nearby and the staff there try to get you into supported accommodation but you are too traumatised and broken to engage with them. Your needs are complex. But they want to help you. There is a shower at the Women's Centre you can use. Its a women-only space so you feel safe and respected with privacy.

Eventually you build up trust with the women there and they help you move into the supported accommodation where you are finally safe.

At The Nelson Trust Women's Centre, we know that before we can begin to make progress in some important areas, we have to address basic needs and self-esteem. If a woman is in dirty clothes and hasn't showered for days, she will find other actions more difficult.

We support women who are homeless, who feel forced to have sex with someone to be able to have a roof over their head. They don't always feel safe to have a shower there, so they come to the Women's Centre.

We provided space for a woman in her 60s, who was living in her car, to come in daily to have a shower and wash her clothes.

We kept open a safe place for a woman staying in a B&B with a shared bathroom, where all the other residents were men and the bathroom door lock was broken. She showered at our centre.

This is a real need, right now, in Gloucester.

As well as offering access to different types of support, our Women's Centres offer a safe place to shower, find clothes and hygiene products, and have something to eat in a safe environment. We want the women to feel seen and valued by offering a shower space that is inviting, calming and safe.

We have already been generously donated some beautiful tiles and a power shower and we are asking for help to transform our shower room into somewhere that demonstrates to the women who need us that they are valued and respected.

If you believe, as we do, that we all deserve to feel good about ourselves, please help us provide access to a decent shower and bathroom facilities and a place to come to feel a bit special and pampered.

*Name changed to protect identity.