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Women and Children's Refuges - Barnsley & Wakefield
Tragically around 70% of children who come into Barnsley Women’s Refuge with their mothers have themselves been physically abused while 90% have heard or witnessed their mother being violently attacked. Children experience both physical injury and sexual abuse. Witnessing or experiencing violence can result in psychological trauma, anger, fear, insecurity and guilt. The Children’s Workers run tried and tested programmes to help children deal with the trauma they have experienced and to give them coping strategies should they ever find themselves in a similar situation again. The postholders also work with the child’s school to try to ensure their education does not suffer.
There is currently no statutory funding available for these vital posts, so funds raised by Church Housing Trust are crucial in supporting these highly vulnerable children. We are fundraising to continue a post at both the
Barnsley and Wakefield Refuges
Children’s Outings and Activities
Most of the women fleeing domestic violence have very little by way of money and are unable to provide their children with treats or outings, let alone a holiday. Funds raised by Church Housing Trust are paying for a programme of outings and activities, such as trips to the seaside, Christmas pantomime, bowling and swimming. These are a highlight for children whose lives have been turned upside down by violence.
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Missing Links Employment & Training Project
This is a dynamic project that helps people living in two Cambridge hostels to access leisure pursuits, education, training, voluntary work and paid employment. The Co-ordinator’s post, originally funded through Church Housing Trust, now receives some funding from the City Council in recognition of the project’s value to homeless people. Church Housing Trust continues to raise funds to cover the cost of training, and for therapeutic and educational activities including in-house IT training and a diverse creative arts programme.
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Pictured: Cambridge hostel resident proudly showing his artwork.
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Strangeway's prison visitors' centre
ECHG runs the Visitor Centre at Manchester Prison. Families often travel considerable distances to visit their relatives in prison and arrive at the Centre tired and on edge. Added to this, prison visiting – with all the security measures - can be very intimidating for children. The Play Workers have a vital role in looking after the needs and welfare of child visitors. The Visitor Centre runs on a very tight budget and has no funding to cover the costs of these posts, so Church Housing Trust has an ongoing appeal to fund two Play Workers.
“Over the years we have seen how upset some children can be by visiting prison and the strain this puts on families who already struggle to visit,” said ECHG’s Prison Centre Manager, Mike Gorman. “We believe that by helping relatives visit it keeps families together and leads to less family breakdown and homelessness. The Centre works with the families of men leaving prison, so they avoid homelessness and as a result are less likely to re-offend."
Research shows that holding the family unit together reduces the likelihood of
a prisoner becoming homeless and re-offending, and reduces the incidence of family breakdown. The work of the centre helps to reduce crime and deals with mental health problems, jobs, accommodation and helps by sustaining relationships and providing opportunities for accessing support. Top |
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Resettlement
Resettlement is a time fraught with difficulty for many homeless people. 'Moving on' can be a desperately lonely experience after the camaraderie of hostel life, and simply coping with everything may tax their abilities to the limit.
To compound the problems, a lack of money often means that people resettling cannot afford to purchase even the most basic household necessities, with the result that may end up sleeping rough in their own homes. In cases where new tenants have virtually nothing by way of furnishings or household goods, they easily become detached from the resettlement process - many abandon their homes to become street homeless again.
In order to address this issue, Church Housing Trust is appealing for £50,000 to provide Resettlement Packs, as and when needed, to residents moving on from the 70+ hostels we support throughout England. The aim is to enable the purchase of basic household items to suit any given individual's needs. Packs are only used when statutory grants are not available, or are insufficient. At an average cost of £250 each, the resettlement packs are designed as a very practical way of meeting the particular needs of each individual, demonstrating our faith in the future of homeless people who are trying to make a fresh start.
Some more examples of how our funding helps the homeless
“Gary” was 22 when he was given a medical discharge from the Army and after a relationship breakdown he ended up living on the streets. A parish priest found him sleeping in the porch of his church. He helped him to review his life and consider his options, and, with help from the the Single Persons Accommodation Centre for the Ex Services (SPACES) in Catterick Garrison, he was offered a room at ECHG’s Galleries hostel in Richmond, North Yorkshire. Once Gary had settled in he registered with a local GP and was able to receive medical attention for his diabetes, and the anxiety attacks and depression which were plaguing him.
Once Gary was confident and well enough to move on and live independently he decided to stay in the local area where he had built up a support network and had made friends. Further help from SSAFA Forces Help and Church Housing Trust enabled him to secure private rented accommodation and purchase the basic furnishings he needed. He sent us a thank you card to say how much he appreciated the help he was given. “You’ve all been phenomenal!”
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Emma didn't get on with her mum's new partner and when she was sixteen she was thrown out of her family home. She was referred from a Leeds City Council hostel to one of the ECHG's schemes while she was still attending sixth form college. Fortunately Social services paid her rent, as she was not eligible for housing benefit and CHT's funding enabled her to buy a second-hand cooker when her old one broke. She has now been at ECHG's scheme in Leeds for two years, and has successfully secured a place at University after passing her A levels.
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Darren, 23, has a background of alcohol and drug addiction, and had been homeless for three years. Not surprisingly he also suffered from mental health problems, but, during his second stay at Vaughan House his behaviour stabilised and he is now in control of his addiction. Having discovered his artistic abilities, the staff encouraged him to start at college, and he was able to move on into his own place. CHT’s resettlement grant enabled Darren to buy things he needed to turn his bare flat into a home, so that he is finally settled and optimistically looking forward to the future.
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Wayne had been sleeping rough in Manchester for a number of weeks following rows with his family. In his mid-twenties and a heroin user, he was suffering from deep vein thrombosis and other problems. He was desperate to “get off the street and sort my life out”. Wayne was found an emergency bed, registered with a GP and referred on to a project providing 24 hour support for current and ex-drug users.
Since becoming settled he has had contact with his family again and they are now able to be more supportive. There have been major improvements in his health, appearance and he is determined to ‘stay clean’. He is keen to work with young people in the future, to give them his first hand experiences of the misery of a spiralling drug problem.
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“Sarah” is a 55 year old with a long history of alcohol abuse who lived in the Jamaica Street hostel in Bristol for five months. After nearly 12 years of abstinence, she had returned to drink after the death of her partner, and was evicted from her home, leading to a downward spiral of shoplifting and inappropriate behaviour. The staff at Jamaica Street helped Sarah tackle her alcoholism and she was finally able to move into a bedsit on her own. She rediscovered the joys of reading and walking and has now been able to move into her own flat.
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© 2008 Church Housing Trust
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