London and National Society for Women’s Service

The Fawcett Society is an organisation in the United Kingdom that campaigns for women's rights. The organisation's roots date back to 1866, when Millicent Garrett Fawcett dedicated her life to the peaceful campaign for women's suffrage.

It is a charity registered with the Charity Commission and has a membership of around 3,000 alongside some high-profile supporters such as Jenni Murray, Bill Bailey, Kate Mosse, Josie Long and Patrick Stewart.

The organisation states that it campaigns on "women’s representation in politics and public life; pay, pensions and poverty; valuing caring work; and the treatment of women in the justice system". It uses "independent research and evidence to better understand key issues and generate media coverage, reports and briefings that both increase awareness and put pressure on powerful policy and decision makers to act."

There are autonomous, self managed, regional Fawcett Society groups which work in their local areas, including Bristol to safeguard the rights of women.

The library and archives of the Society, formerly the Fawcett Library, are now part of the Women's Library at the British Library of Political and Economic Science, the main library of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

The society's work is overseen by a board of Trustees. The current Chair is Belinda Phipps. Trustees have included:

The Fawcett Society filed papers with the High Court seeking a judicial review of the government's 2010 budget, contending that the Treasury did not fully assess the impact that budget cuts would affect different groups, as is required by law. An analysis of the budget found that women would be paying around £5.8 billion of the £8 billion of savings planned. Their judicial review was denied.

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