Once you have been referred, we will discuss with you what your needs are to make sure we can meet them. We will discuss together as a team and then get back in touch with you to offer you a place or refer you elsewhere if needed.

We have to ensure that we have the right space for you so will look at how many children you have, if you have any disabilities, where you are currently fleeing from to make sure you are a safe distance from your current home and various other safety issues. We do ask a lot of questions but please be aware that it is only to ensure that we can support you in the best way possible.

Our refuges are secure and are considered exceptionally safe.

We also work hard to make our refuges as friendly and inclusive as possible. If you have mobility issues we have 2 flats that are mobility friendly and a lift to use to access both the office and the ramp outside. You also will have a phone line directly to the office. We also have one room available for someone needing full-time care.

You can bring some belongings with you but unfortunately not white goods or furniture. When in refuge we can support you to access furniture and white goods ready for when you move on to a new home. Each property in refuge is completely furnished and equipped, ready to move into.

All our refuges are classed as “supported housing”. This means that when you come into our service you will be allocated a support worker to support you while in refuge and to move on to a new home when you are ready. Your support worker will work with you to create a support plan around things that you would like to work on, including anything like bills, debts, accessing health, education, legal advice, benefits, immigration issues, support for children and young people. We will also look at any risks you face and how we can manage this risk with you.

In all of our accommodation you are completely free to come and go as you please. You can cook food and clean clothes etc whenever works for you. We do not oversee how you live on a day-to-day basis and only ask that you follow the tenancy rules and respect other people living in the building if you are in shared accommodation like refuge.

Yes, we will look at each family as an individual case to see how we can help you, whether at our refuge or independent, dispersed housing. If we are unable to offer a space, we will do our best to help refer you to another service that can.

We also have Children and Young People workers, who can support children and young people to ensure their needs are met. Each property in refuge is completely furnished and equipped ready to move into with rooms and spaces suitable for families and toys and activities available.

We do have some dispersed properties where we can discuss you being able to bring a small pet but we cannot have pets in the main refuges. We will do our very best to support you with pet fostering and offer advice and support around this. We will always accept Assistance Dogs and registered “Helping Hands” dogs.

The help and support you will be able to access is based both on your immediate needs and risk and your wishes and desires in moving forward. We will always work with you to create a support plan that works best for you.

We will initially support you around things that you might need urgently, like maximizing your benefits, and accessing a GP, dentist, and showing you where shops, places of worship, community centres and other local places are.

We can also support with legal issues and refer you to legal specialists and immigration support if needed. If you are not comfortable speaking in English, we have access to translators to make sure you fully understand our services and will always use one wherever we are offering support if needed.

We will also work with you on better understanding domestic violence and abuse and issues surrounding it, as well as working together with you on things like developing skills around staying safe.

Children and Young People’s worker will support you to access schools, nursery places, medical care, transport to school and uniforms ready for school admissions. They can also offer one-to-one sessions with your children and can work with them to identify what they would like support with.

Support is booked at a time and date suitable for you and is led by you and your needs. You have the right to change meetings or ask for meetings at any time and we will work with you to create a support plan that works for you.

Some of our Refuges have some communal space. You will always have your own bedroom in these refuges but may have to share other facilities. There are also communal lounges and gardens with play equipment for you to meet up with others living in the refuge if you chose to. Our support workers can answer all these questions for you in more detail prior to moving in.

In our largest refuge, you will have your own self-contained flat. We also have 14 dispersed properties across Leeds, which are self-contained, fully equipped and furnished. These are flats and houses, which are a part of the community. You will still have a panic button in your home, which goes directly to a call centre if you are at risk, as well as an internal phone linked to the office.

You will be allocated a support worker whom you can ask to change at any time, as we all know that you don’t always get on with everyone and we want you to be comfortable with the person you are working with.

The only people who will know where you are are the staff in the service, your GP, your Health Visitor (if you have one), your Social Worker (if you have one), schools, the benefits office (but they are bound by GDPR and know not to let anyone know about your whereabouts) and anyone else you chose to tell. We ask that you only use the PO Box address for correspondence and do not give the actual address out to anyone. This is to ensure that all refuge residents can stay safe.

The whole organisation is covered by GDPR which means we will check every call and your consent before speaking to anyone about you. You will be asked to sign a consent form to say who we can or cannot speak to about you.

We will not inform anyone else of your whereabouts unless it is a safeguarding issue. We will talk with you in more depth about this when you come in and make sure you understand and are comfortable with all guidelines.

You will be issued with a licence agreement or an Assured Shorthold tenancy depending on which refuge you move into. We will support you to move when you are ready.

When you feel ready, we will support you to bid for local authority properties weekly but we expect most people will move to private rented housing from refuge due to shortage of local authority housing across West Yorkshire and we will help you to look for private lets. You will know when you are ready and when you have left we will offer 6 weeks resettlement support in your new property. You can also access other parts of our service once you have left our refuge if it is suitable for you, like our group work.

Some women choose to go back to their previous homes and again we will not judge you if you do this, we will support you to do it in a safe way.