Peterborough Women’s Aid have opened a new ‘safe space’ for some of the hundreds of victims of domestic abuse in the city to get the help and support they need.
Anne’s House has opened at 32-34 Cromwell Road, and will give women a new location to meet with staff and volunteers from the charity.
Mandy Geraghty, the charity's CEO, said: “We currently run a refuge in Peterborough, as well as a number of community services.”Last year we had more than 700 referrals, and there was a large need for somewhere women can go – a female only space – to get peer support, and support from us, to create those important networks.
"There is a cafe, a shop, a prayer room, a conference centre, and we will be running a number of groups for women – yoga, arts and crafts, book clubs.
"There will be a drop in service, but we will probably have set hours for those, and set hours for group sessions.”
Charity works with communities across the city
The charity runs a number of different projects, helping various different communities within Peterborough.
Mandy said: “We have one project that supports Lithuanian and Polish women, while another, the Dahlia Project, works with South Asian communities.
"We have staff and volunteers who are from those communities, and speak the languages, so they know how to help.
"We are finding, for example, that there are women in South Asian communities who are survivors, but have no intention of leaving that relationship because of cultural boundaries. But it doesn’t matter if you want to leave the relationship or not – it is about getting support for the women.
"We also have the first county wide male project, supporting male victims of domestic abuse. It has been really successful, and is supporting more than 100 men.
"People are a little bit more open about the subject now, but it is still hidden, even though research shows one in four people are survivors.”
Plea for funding help
Much of the funding for the new project has come from criminals themselves.
Mandy said: “Having something like this has always been our dream, but unfortunately it is all about the money.
"We had a good year in terms of fundraising last year, and we have had some funding from the Judiciary – where money seized from criminals in court is given to charities like ours.
"That money will enable us to keep Anne’s House open for a year.”We have also had businesses support us, including Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers, and some other funding – but it all needs to tie in together.
"There will be an ongoing battle to keep it open, and we would like Peterborough businesses to support us in the way other charities get support.”
An open day will take place at the centre on Thursday, January 18 between 10am and 2pm.
Any businesses that which to support the charity should email [email protected]
If you are suffering domestic abuse, you can contact the charity for support by calling 01733 894964 between 9.30am and 4pm Monday-Friday, by visiting the website at https://peterboroughwomensaid.co.uk/ where a webchat service is available
