Women's Refuge Opens its Doors

A new £2.3m women’s refuge in Preston will provide accommodation for victims of domestic violence from across the country.

Contour Homes has successfully developed the scheme with £1.65m funding from the Homes & Communities Agency.

The new facility offers 15 self contained flats, (seven 3-person flats, four 4-person flats and four-5 person flats) so that each family can have its own kitchen, bathroom and lounge. This will allow the facility to accommodate teenage boys and women with high support needs. One flat has also been adapted to accommodate a physically disabled woman or child.

Four flats have been earmarked exclusively for the use of Muslim women. Specialist staff who speak Gujarati, Urdu and Punjabi will bring their extensive cultural knowledge to Audrey Wise House. This includes providing cooking facilities and utensils for halal use only, and supporting religious beliefs with the provision of Burkahs, prayer mats and holy books.

The facility has a communal lounge, therapy room and one-to-one counselling facilities. There is also a play area and garden which will be equipped with outdoor play equipment.

Andrea Swanwick Senior Project Manager for Contour Homes said: “When Preston Council identified a need for supported accommodation for women and children, it approached Contour Homes for assistance and in 2007 our proposed scheme was accepted.

“The new scheme was developed on land owned by Contour Homes and so we were also able to ‘gift’ the land to the refuge.

“The building will be owned by Contour Homes and the clients will be Contour Homes residents on a temporary tenancy agreement. We have worked very closely with Preston Domestic Violence Services and the Managing Agent to design a scheme that best supports the needs of the end user.”

The new scheme known as Audrey Wise House complements Contour Homes considerable supported housing portfolio which includes the development of high quality accommodation for older people and vulnerable groups including people with disabilities and mental illness.

Valerie Wise Chief Executive of Preston Domestic Violence Services said: “We are delighted to be able to provide this much needed service in our region which provides state of the art accommodation for women and their families.”

One incident of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute and on average, two women a week are killed by a current or former male partner. (Women’s Aid, 2010)