Demand 'increasing in York' from vulnerable women seeking support services
Kyra Women's Project has restarted face-to-face appointments this week.
There's a waiting list for vulnerable women in York seeking face-to-face contact and support.
Kyra Women's Project has been helping 400 women a week during lockdown, and has restarted appointments in person this week.
Their CEO is Rosemary Cook, who says the reopening of the economy will have its positives and negatives for vulnerable women: "There are people who very much need to get back into the world, and being able to go to shops or sit with a friend in the park will be really important.
"It can be awful for women who have felt locked away, so people going through that will be thrilled they can get out again. Equally, there are people for whom lockdown has been very difficult and undermining; they'd find it more difficult and frightening now to come outside.
"Those are the people we want to help online and slowly through their interactions with us to get outside again, but it won't be easy".
Rosemary goes on to say that preparations have been underway to help people feel safe at their centre: "We're very excited; it's been great to have people back in the building. We've had some of our volunteers tidy up the courtyard gardens for if some of our clients feel uncomfortable inside and want the fresh air.
"This (reopening) will mean a lot to a lot of our members. Although we've seen that people appreciate support online, there's no doubt they find it different to having support face-to-face.
"We're going to start having 'booked drop-ins'. We used to have a drop-in literally with the door open we now have people booking places so we don't have too many. We have a waiting list for those booked drop-ins, so clearly a lot of people are missing face-to-face contact.
"However, we're also having members asking if online support will continue, so we'll have a blended approach going forward.
"We have had a growing demand during the last year. Last month we had 39 new members join us, and that's about the rate people have been joining since the Autumn.
"We've just started our 'Route to Recovery' project, which will help around 240 women over 4 years either struggling with mental health problems or women recovering from domestic abuse.
"We're running the first of the freedom course in April for women escaping domestic abuse, and our 'action towards inclusion' project will hopefully help people looking at getting back into employment".