Fiona Gwinnett, Chief Executive of the Island Women’s Refuge speaks to Alex Varley-Winter about the impact of cuts on the charity and the risk posed to those ‘in fear for their lives’. Ed
Victims of domestic abuse on the Island are losing their safety net as the Island Women’s Refuge faces closure.
Chief Executive of the Refuge Fiona Gwinnett said she felt “very let down” by the IW Council, as the 10% cut to the Island Women’s Refuge are effected in the Supporting People budget this year.
She found out about the cuts to her service in February and claims not to have had any direct response from the Council, who failed to carry out a Quality Impact Assessment before making this decision. The Refuge might now vacate the Island due to loss of funding.
More pressure on police to prevent murder
The Refuge, a registered charity, is currently unable to accept police referrals, as funding for this part of the service expired in March.
Prior to cuts, the Refuge had also, on a monthly basis, been representing the needs of 20 victims deemed at risk of serious injury or death, contributing directly to the Police’s murder prevention strategy and extending the Refuge’s remit to male victims.
Funding is currently cut from this service, which has been suspended since March and awaits a commitment to funding from the Council.
Therapy groups and a safe house may also go
The Refuge’s therapy groups have an average attendance of 19 women a week.
At least one group faces closure and Fiona said that the charity could ‘start packing up’. Under current conditions, their Safe House, which runs at a cost of £65,000 per year, will be unsustainable by March 2011, meaning victims and the police would have to rely on B&Bs in emergencies.
Victims may be sent to service-strapped mainland
Fiona said: “Senior members of the Council say that combating domestic abuse is a real priority for them, but they’ve not made any contingency plans for this service and nobody has bothered to find out what it is we do.”
The Refuge currently supports more than 600 vulnerable women and children including those deemed most at risk. Now they may need to go to the mainland for support, where Fiona expects demand on services to have been increased by the closure of Weymouth’s Women’s Refuge on 31st March.
“There are holes emerging across the South Coast and this is narrowing the options for people that are really in fear for their lives,” she said.
What does the Refuge do?
One of the most alarming accusations levelled by the charity is that the Council did not make themselves aware of what the Refuge does or what the impact of cuts would be.
Since 1991 the Island Women’s Refuge has provided support and a safe house to victims of domestic abuse and their children.
In 2009, 23 women and 25 children used their safe house. Of these, Fiona estimates that 85% went on to better and more independent lives: “It is not easy living in a refuge,” she said. “It functions as a last resort and we would like to see women and children helped from within their communities.”
In view of this, more than 350 women and 320 children were also helped last year by the Refuge’s community services, providing play therapy and independent monitoring for those on Child Protection Plans, offering group therapy for women with a history of unequal relationships, operating a free 24-hour helpline and representing, monthly, the 20 victims deemed at risk of serious injury or death at the Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference.
The charity already runs cost-effectively to increasing demand
The total number of those supported by the Refuge’s community services has risen significantly year-on-year, from 161 women and children in 2005 to 679 in 2009.
Operating a 24-hour helpline and being on call is part of each staff member’s contract. This work is not reflected in their salaries and runs at a cost of £10,000 to the charity.
The service cannot continue to operate under a 10% reduction in funding. The charity is attempting to meet the current short-fall by applying for grants.
Council is accused of a strategic failure
While the Refuge’s therapy for at-risk children awaits the result of a grant application, Fiona claims that she is not getting past ‘the first rung’ in many further grant applications because the wide-ranging service the Refuge offers falls outside the remit of most grant providers:
“The feedback I’m getting is that this support should be coming from the Council. Grants tend to be targeted on individual projects. For example they aim to support 16-24 year olds. We want to provide a universal service.”
The Refuge has also received feedback from Advice UK that this removal of support represents a strategic failure on the part of the Unitary Authority; it should be addressed.
