Helping clients and friends

Your children and the Refuge

What help is there if a woman arrives at the Refuge without food for her children?

When she arrives we will, if necessary, provide her with food for the first two days. By that time we should have helped her sort out her basic money needs, but if there has been a delay we will provide additional emergency supplies.

What will happen to children?

All school age children in the Refuge must, by law, go to school and we help women find a local school. This also helps the children make friends.

Refuge facilities for children

The needs of the woman's children concern the Refuge staff as much as the woman's own and the Refuge runs supervised child care sessions for younger children. It can, however, only accommodate boys up to the age of 16.

Children often need help because they have witnessed abuse and violence. Coping with a family while being abused can be exhausting. Our qualified childworkers seek to help women with this.

Developments in our children's services

Our Coordinator of children's services writes this year about her staff's delight over their new, purpose built children's activity room.

The room has been furnished to enable children to choose and access their own activities, though we will continue to provide a range of more structured and adult-led, age-appropriate occupations. Facilities also incorporate a small room, where children can undertake quiet activities such as reading, ... but which can also be used to accommodate children under 18 months of age when the need arises.

Views of some children's facilities

If a woman is concerned about the standard of accommodation that their children can expect they can go to our picture gallery.