Sheffield domestic abuse charity announces closure despite fight for survival
Vida says it would need £250,000 a year to run its services
An independent domestic abuse charity in Sheffield will close its doors in March 2025 following a year-long fight for survival that ends with devastating results.
Vida Sheffield has been in survival mode through this year but the charity, which says it saves the NHS £50,000 a month, has no one to turn to as all the funds required have not been secured.
The charity says it would need £250,000 a year to run its services but, as it put it in a press release, “this is proving impossible to do because grant funding and donations have become so competitive in recent years as there are many worthwhile causes vying for the same pots of funding.”
Vida Sheffield’s chief executive Karen Hague told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that it’s been a year of “ups and downs” since the charity first announced it would close before managing to pull itself back from the brink with support from the National Lottery.
She said it has had quite a bit of success through the year but recently had to come to the conclusion that it was just not sustainable.
Ms Hague said: “We need some assurance of a multi-year funding and the best we can get out of contracts, if we’re lucky enough, is two years.
“So we’ve done all we can speaking to key leaders within the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Sheffield City Council, NHS but nobody’s committing to significant funding over a multi year for us and the nature of the service means that we need to be able plan that because we don’t want to leave a survivor of abuse in the middle of her pathway of recovery.
“So we just feel that there is no alternative but to do the right thing and announce our closure.”
She added that above the fact that she was disappointed and devastated, she has concerns around what is going to happen to those who have been using their services.
She previously told the LDRS that they see between 170 to 200 clients a year and they support another 50 through an online forum – she added it costs £1,000 a woman for one-to-one therapy.
In Sheffield, she continued, a lot of abuse survivors – predominantly women – need support, including long-term mental health recovery, help around post traumatic stress disorder and more.
Now, a lot of them will be without this sort of support and this will put extra pressure on the few services available, particularly the NHS.
So what is going to happen to these vulnerable people?
Ms Hague said the charity was saving the NHS £50,000 a month but now women will go back to their GPs and will be referred to specialist services and will have to wait two to three years for the support they want.
“My concern is that most women are already at the end of their tether and are considering suicide as an option,” she said.
She said: “We save lives. Vida saves lives.”
In July, members of Sheffield City Council heard from Vida Sheffield after a petition to ensure it has support to deliver services received more than 27,000 signatures.
Sheffield City Council has been approached for a comment.
Cllr Angela Argenzio, chair of the adult health and social care policy committee at Sheffield City Council, told the LDRS: “We will be sorry to see VIDA close its doors. VIDA is a long-standing and well-respected local charity, and we thank everyone at VIDA who has provided excellent domestic abuse support to many people since the mid 1990s.
“We have met with the charity over the last year, and we supported them in their communications with the Department of Health and Social Care and other potential funders regarding their situation so we’re saddened that they will no longer be providing services in Sheffield.
“VIDA are one of a number of valued charities in the city that support women and provide counselling and as a Council we support and provide funding to a number of organisations through our Domestic Abuse Strategy, including women’s refuges, the Domestic Abuse Helpline and Independent Domestic Violence Advocates.”