Campaigners fight to save South Yorkshire Women's Aid
The Doncaster-based service warns funding will run out in December
Last updated 30th Aug 2017
Campaigners say women in South Yorkshire will be put at risk if a domestic violence charity has to close its doors.
South Yorkshire Women’s Aid was given a grant of £30,000 by Doncaster Council to get the service back and up running last summer after it temporarily closed.
But campaigners are now warning that grant will run out in December – meaning the service will have to close for good if no alternative funding can be found.
They've been holding a protest in Doncaster today, saying women in the region would be left with nowhere to go: “We support women not only in South Yorkshire, but across the country,” says service volunteer Amy Cousens.
“We’ve had over 100 referrals since March, so we’re absolutely inundated. At the moment we only have 2 working part time staff. We work out of one room. It’s a dire situation as it is. If we’re not here, then women will not have anywhere to go to in the local region.”
Amy claims the council said they would be able to apply for more funding once the current grant runs out.
But the council says they made clear from the start that it was a one-off grant to get them back up and running, and the service would then need to find alternative ways to fund themselves.
One of the organisation’s trustees, Nigel Walsh, says they’re working with Doncaster Council to find a way to keep the service open: “We have always known this was for a limited period of time. The Council have been working with us to try to help us.
“We still have funds left until the end of the year, and we will be doing all in our power to ensure we have further funds either from the council or others to continue from the start of 2018.
“We don’t want to think negatively. We are confident that any reasonable person looking at the massive demand for the service…will see that we are preventing even worse problems in our area, where there’s a huge demand. We have to work on the premise that we will find the funding to continue. It’s absolutely essential that we do. We will explore all options."