Extra refuges set to open in Peterborough after £170,000 funding boost
Peterborough Women’s Aid welcomes five years of support as demand for help surges
Women and children in Peterborough escaping domestic abuse are set to benefit from more refuge spaces.
The move comes after the city council agreed to provide £170,000 a year in funding for Peterborough Women’s Aid.
“Our referrals have increased this year by nearly fifty percent on last year, so we welcome this initiative, but we also ask that domestic abuse is a priority and continues to be one,” Mandy Geraghty, from Peterborough Women's Aid, said.
The new funding, guaranteed for three years with the possibility of up to five years, means the charity can plan ahead and offer long-term support for families who need it most.
“To be able to have five years worth of funding is really reassuring in terms of being able to plan, in terms of being able to get the accommodation long-term and to support as many families as we can,” Mandy said.
Peterborough Women’s Aid will now be able to help those victims who have no recourse to public funds.
“These victims are the most vulnerable in terms of not having any access to benefits, housing, the NHS and suffering severe domestic abuse without access to a refuge,” Mandy explains.
“A lot of the families we have worked with honestly believe that they would have been killed.
"Most of the time, refuges are the only place a victim of domestic abuse can safely go.
"We know that perpetrators will reduce access to money; they will isolate victims.”
The funding is expected to provide support to up to 30 adults and 30 children every year.