Subject: How to set up a refuge / safe house...?

Hi there angel777111, thanks for adding your question.

What a wonderful opportunity but there must be so much to sort out! We've contacted a number of women's groups via Twitter to see if they can share any advice. Hopefully they'll join this discussion here.

It might also be useful if you could tell us where you are in the country as there may be people out there willing to lend a hand.

In the meantime, although not direct answers to your questions, you might find some of these pages useful:

How to write a winning funding bid

Setting up a charity

How to complete a risk assesment

Best of luck with this.

Madeleine

hi madeleine,

thank you so much for replying, and wow with loads of info to , thank you..well its all going slowly but surly here, speaking to so many people and getting pointers, phewww quite an undertaking, but im determined not to let this opportuniy pass by without trying my damn hardest..... Well im based in the highlands of Scotland in a beautiful area.. just perfect for a refuge/safe house for women. ive nearly completed a mock business plan which ive shown to a friend , and he was surprisingly pleased with what id done. and helped me do some ajustments to it and help with the missions statement....Mybedroom as now turned into my office..and paperwork is slightly overtaking but hey thats a very smallprice to pay..lol .thankyou again and i'll keep u updated on how its all going...THANKYOU..x

Hello Angel

I can see you're working hard on the 'landlady' bit of your business plan - i.e. setting up the building and making it fit for purpose - but there are other things which you are going to have to consider:

Staffing the refuge. Do you intend to have paid staff or volunteers? How will you recruit either and ensure they are suitable, e.g. having been trained or had experience in dealing with domestic violence on a professional level? By the way, being a survivor of DV is not an automatic qualification for this work. If you have paid staff (and you will have other expenses regardless), how will you fund them? In most established refuges, the Supporting People fund pays for staffing (but not for rent) and they have a prodigious amount of hoops to jump through, not least the 'QAF' (quality assurance framework). SP funding is administered by the local authority, and you may find yours has allocated their entire SP budget already, and perhaps for up to three years ahead.

Your staff/ volunteers will also need to be au fait with applying for Housing Benefit, especially duel applications, so that women can keep up the HB on their own homes and claim a second amount for their refuge rent. Where women aren't entitled to HB, you will need to consider how much rent to charge them.

Referrals: refuges have a number of ways women can be referred to them. Here in Birmingham, all the spaces from various refuge providers are allocated by another agency, who takes the woman's circumstantial details down to find the most suitable space available on the day (some women have additional needs, e.g. have disabilities; some women have large families; some refuges won't be safe because they are in the same area as the perpetrator, etc.). Other refuges may only take referrals via their local housing department, or police, or whatever. Whatever set-up is in your area, you need to make sure the relevant agencies know of your existence and what you offer, e.g. rooms in shared house/ self-contained flats; how many children can be accommodated in each room, etc. If you are in a position to take women who have no recourse to public funds (i.e. can't claim housing benefit) you will need to register with the Home Office to assure them you will not accommodate women who are falsely claiming DV as a way to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Managing the building: just to say that this is a huge task. I work for the largest voluntary sector refuge provider in Birmingham & Solihull combined, and three out of our four refuges are not owned by us, but by Registered Social Landlords, i.e. housing associations.

Finally - do you have any local refuge providers you can contact to get a better idea of the different areas you will need to cover? I don't wish to sound pessimistic, but running a refuge is a minefield of bureaucracy and regulation, and nothing like the days when groups of survivors set up their own 'safe houses' back in the 70s.

Regards

Maria Harvey (Birmingham & Solihull Women's Aid, writing in own capacity)

hi Maria

Thank you so much for all the information you have given me.. yes it is a real undertaking and full of bureaucracy and regs...its a long road ahead and a major task, but one i really want to get going..its such a wonderful opportunity to be given the premises to lease and to set up the refuge..Any pointers no matter how difficult to accomplish and acheive are so welcome, as you know there are many "t's" to cross and dots to "i's"....Fortunatly for me there are amazing people like yourself who are aware how difficult a task this is, and giving information and advice to help  carry me forward (even just one step at a time)  I myself am a survivor of D.V,. and was placed under the MARAC system and had to move away from my family and friends, , this has given me such an insight and personal expereince of how essensial a refuge is for women who have to me moved from there home towns...All the agencies that worked with me were amazing people, and very professional, and some like yourself are giving advice and information on setting up the refuge... Thank you so much for taking the time to write back to me , i will use the information you have written and work out how to acheieve (maybe the impossible) the task ahead....again thank you Marie and ill keep u updated on how things are going..

kindest regards

anya

Hi Angel

Like Maria, I work in the domestic violence sector in the North, and have worked in 3 refuges, as well as setting up 2 outreach services. Women's Aid may give you some advice. I totally agree with Maria - running a refuge is a minefield & needs to comply with Supporting People standards. You need to know what's in your area and what is available already for potential service users - its a competitive market out there with many organisations competing for the same funding. Refuge and outreach workers do make it look easy - because that's their role. What you don't see is what needs to be done to raise funds to keep going every year, depending on what's considered a priority need. Despite you stating that you are a survivor yourself and having spent time in a refuge, I would encourage you to get some experience under your belt as a volunteer in a DV service / refuge or a homeless charity (they will work on similar principles with different client groups) to understand the real challenges involved. There are very few truly independent refuges now, most are affiliated to housing associations / registered social landlords. Those that are independent tend to have long standing, experienced staff who have chosen to remain independent, although it can be much harder as needs constant fundraising. If you live in the Midlands, North West or South East there should be a range of DV services not too far away to approach. Also how 'safe' will your safe house / refuge be for the potential service users, it it potentially in the middle of an estate, how near are the vital services and resources needed ie DWP, shops, buses, schools, GP, police ( if someone's husband finds them), clinics etc - and how much resistance will you get from local residents when the local authority planners advertise what it may become ?  I admire your good intentions, but you really need to see the challenges in the cold light of day. 

Good luck

woow so far on here all i seem to be getting is such a negative response.. Im so very well aware of the challenges i face , I have acheived in the past various qulifications in the care and business sector, and not just using my personal experience in D.V. as a rod to my means. Ive been given a wonderful opportunity from a very kind decent friend in being able to lease his hotel in a beautiful part of Scotland in which I myself feel extemly previliaged to live. The environment has to be one of the most safest places i have ever encountered and one of which has such natural beauty, im sure any woman (like myself) would feel safe secure and free from any "outside" enfluances of fear and harrasement. The Hotel CAN offer such good theropy in the aid to healing and give any woman a chance just to have a quite and relaxing time for up to 2 yrs if need be.Women under the MARAK system im sure would benefit so much from the house, and also give them the chance just to take some "time out" and a chance to get some direction without the "hussle and bussle" a town envirionment has. I have spoken to members of the D.V.unit in the police depts here and they feel there really is a need for such accommodation and are supporting me in my plan for the house. There will transport, free wifi and online shopping so woman would be able to attend any doctors, appointments and eat!!etc. All im asking is for some positive advice and support.. i know there is a alot to do and things to address, but given the right advice and support i "KNOW" this is a wonderful opportunity to be able to help women who really do need a safe and secure safe house to stay in. I wont be put off by any negativities, im a strong willed character and beleive where there's a will there's a way, no matter how long it takes I will always persue this plan as I know opportunities like this dont happen, and given that the location and the environment is so beautiful ,such an excellent chance for women to be placed here to feel safe,secure and free ,even if just for as long as to give them a  bit of breathing space..wow i cant see why theres so much negativity regarding this plan, all i'm asking is for some help and a bit of direction to put this plan in place . theres a lot of women and i mean a lot!! who are suffering right now and need somewhere to go..so i will continue my plan no matter what it takes and anyone who wants to offer positive advice and support i will welcome ,,there is a need for women of D.V. to have a good supporting saftey net and i can offer that to them givien the chance.

I don't understand your last comment at all. Nobody who has given you advice so far has done so with the intention of dissuading you from your purpose, or implied that the service is not necessary or wouldn't be of any therapeutic benefit. All we, who already work in this sector, have tried to do is ready you for the many difficulties you are going to face so that you are equipped to do so. Neither is anybody suggesting that your personal experience of DV is a 'problem', just that it alone does not 'qualify' you to run a DV service, any more than having an operation qualifies a person to be a surgeon! I suppose you may feel that you haven't been given enough words of encouragement, but you must take into account the fact that the people responding already know there is justification for what you are doing. Frankly, if you are upset by the advice you've been given by people who wish you well, good luck when you face institutions who won't be so accommodating with whom you will have to work.

Hi Angel

I think what you are doing is truly marvellous. I myself have lived in the highlands of Scotland and it is the most beautiful and picturesque scenery you could ask for. I am a survivor of Domestic Violence. it is through what i suffered inspired me to help, women who have been through a traumatic ordeal. i thing it is a wonderful idea, if there is anything i can help you with just let me know.i am in the process of setting up a non profit organisation in Yorkshire for Rural Communites as i feel the information is not as widely available as it could be and women are stranded in such areas. I have worked for the Specialist Domestic Violence Service. Refuge they only operate in the South there funded by supporting people, i have a vast knowledge of policies and procedures, or i can help with fund raising. Are you going to register  as a charity ?. Please let me know if there is anything i can do . We need more people like yourself whom is doing a wonderful thing. Take Care

Amelia  

Hi Amelia,

What a lovely positive message you have sent, its so reassuring to me that there are people who truly want to help.

I am currently in the process of setting up a Limited company by Guarantee/Charity. I have four commity members on board, and just waiting to set up a registered address so that I  can then send my memorandum of association.Articules etc to Company House, then to apply to OSCR  to become a registered charity. Its a really huge undertaking I know and any help and advice would be so greatly welcomed.

The Hotel needs some renovation work to update and comply with any regs, and HMO and fire regs licences still have to be sorted. Im hoping to get some builders quotes for the work on the hotel, but as you know funding is the key issue here.

My email address is kaydon01@hotmail.co.uk   it would be good to chat to you more on finances, funding, policies and procedures etc, via email as I feel this is quite a personal part of the business set up.

I can't thank you enough for your lovely message, it is a great cause and a fantastic opportunity I have been given to help sufferes of domestic violence.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards

Anya