Derwent Living is celebrating after winning a national award for a new service that is being offered by its women’s refuge.
The Derby-based housing provider has won the complex needs award in the service delivery category of The Guardian newspaper’s Public Service Awards, for the provision of The Butterfly Project. The project offers refuge for women fleeing domestic violence and who have other problems such as alcohol or drug dependency.
The refuge, which is managed by Derwent Living, set up The Butterfly Project a year ago and has already opened its doors to 29 women and 15 children fleeing domestic violence and receiving treatment for other issues such as mental health problems.
The project is supported by professional staff five days and five evenings a week with an out of hours phone link to a 24 hour service. It also has a sophisticated alarm and CCTV security system, linked to domestic violence support and the emergency services.
The service was set up because Supporting People, a government funded body, identified a gap in the current service run by the refuge - that there was no facility to cater for people in the area with additional needs.
There is currently only one other service like the Butterfly Project in the country in Greater London.
Donna Webb, manager of the refuge said: “We are delighted to have won this award which really highlights the incredible work that has already been done by The Butterfly Project. The facility means that we are now able to accommodate women with additional needs, which we haven’t been able to do before, and there was a great need for in the area.”
About 30% of people with mental health problems have current substance misuse problems. Women experiencing domestic violence often increase their use of alcohol, sleeping tablets and anti-depressants.
Narinder Sidhu, a support officer at the refuge, says: “Women who have problematic alcohol/substance use and women with mental health problems are often excluded from services. Refuges find it difficult to support these women and that can lead to women becoming even more vulnerable. They are often left with few options. The Butterfly Project enables women to leave violent relationships, they are more likely to keep their children, benefit from specialist services and eventually be re-housed.”
Derwent Living’s refuge has been running for 15 years and provides a floating support and a children’s service. It is the largest refuge if its kind in Derby and the only one that has self-contained flats. The refuge caters for 15 families at a time. It is supported by the community through donations of cash, clothes, toys and furniture.
Since 1993, the refuge has provided support to women and a children’s service which has helped more than 2000 women with children.
There are no downloads for this news article.
Get Adobe Acrobat reader to view your pdf documents.
General enquiries
t. 01332 346 477
e. info@derwentliving.com
Press enquiries
t. 01332 614935
e. marketing@derwentliving.com
