Sheffield refuge boss calls for end to 'piecemeal' domestic abuse funding

The boss of a domestic abuse charity which runs two refuges in Sheffield says the government must provide more long-term dedicated funding to help save the lives of survivors and their children.

The warning comes amid fears some services are at risk of closing because of a council funding crisis, after the Domestic Abuse Commissioner said many were "hanging by a thread".

ITV News Calendar was given special access to one of Sheffield Women's Aid's two refuges in the city to see their lifesaving work first-hand.

The charity, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, can house up to 37 women across the two sites, as well as children and pets.

It also provides one-to-one sessions to give women emotional and practical support after they have fled abuse.

Chief executive Hollie Venn told us there is a growing need for the charity's help.

She said: "We are pretty much always full. We rarely have spaces available longer for more than a few days. Us being established for 50 years, and still being here as a commissioned service I think absolutely demonstrates the demand for the work that we do and actually that increases year on year."

At the refuge we spoke to a former service user who we are calling Eve to protect her identity.

She spent ten months at the refuge after she escaped a controlling relationship and, after a number of suicide attempts, credits the service with saving her life.

Describing her situation before she got help, Eve said: "It’s honestly like you don’t exist no more. You just live, minute by minute. It’s like you’re in a big black cloud and that black cloud is on your shoulders all the time.

"It feels like you cannot breathe. You feel like you’re suffocating because there was nothing I could do without his say so, without him saying that’s ok. It eats away at the person that you are."

After leaving the refuge earlier this year, Eve now has a house of her own and dreads to think what would have happened had she not got the call saying there was a safe place for her to go.

She said: "When I got out of the taxi I was scared of what I was going to walk into. And it’s nothing like what’s in your imagination. Your imagination is that it’s this dark gloomy place. And it isn’t. It’s a home full of caring staff that are there for you the second you walk through the door.

"If this place didn’t exist and these women that work here didn’t exist I’d know hand on heart 100% my kids wouldn’t have a mum now."

With many councils struggling with their finances amid rising costs, and some being declared effectively bankrupt, there are real fears for the future of domestic abuse services across the country.

Although councils have a statutory duty to provide safe accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse, other services are not protected by law and funding pots can often be short-term.

Hollie says Sheffield Women's Aid is well-supported by its commissioners at Sheffield City Council, but both are under financial pressure.

She said: "There was specific funding made available for councils for domestic abuse services to administer, but actually I think what councils would say is that maybe hasn't made quite the difference that they'd hoped because there are pressures on other budgets within the council.

"I don't blame the councils at all. I know that they're under pressure but what we have to say is if we want these services and we want to save women and children's lives, they have to be adequately funded and sustainably funded as opposed to the piecemeal short term funding that is quite often a way of life for services like Sheffield Women's Aid."

The government describes domestic abuse as a "heinous crime" and said it was providing victims and survivors the support they need.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities said: "Our Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan is investing over £230 million to drive down the prevalence of domestic abuse, and since 2021 we have also committed an additional £507 million to help councils provide support within safe accommodation to victims and their children."

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