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To: Sunderland Council

Drop plans to withdraw funding for Wearside Women in Need

Wearside Women in Need is the only provider of refuges for women fleeing domestic violence in Sunderland and may be forced to close if Sunderland council goes ahead with plans to stop providing funding.

This will make Sunderland City Council the UK's only major city without any domestic violence refuges for women.

We urge Sunderland City Council to drop these plans and find less damaging ways to reduce costs as other councils across the UK have done.

Why is this important?

From the Independent (Source below):

Claire Phillipson, director of Wearside Women in Need, told The Independent that Sunderland Council had told the charity their funding of £568,000 a year would be entirely withdrawn from June 2017.

If the proposed cut goes ahead, the charity said that it would probably be forced to close.

It currently runs four refuges, which can accommodate up to 173 women and 107 children.

As well as generic support, they run the only specialist refuge in the North East for black women, and provide accommodation for women with severe physical disabilities.

They also provide outreach and advocacy services, a 24-hour domestic violence helpline and specialist projects combatting female-genital mutilation and forced marriage.

Northumbria Police recorded 10,159 incidents of domestic abuse in 2014/2015, an increase of 62 per cent since 2007/2008.

Against this backdrop of increasing demand, Wearside Women in Need has already had their funding cut by 33 per cent since 2010.

Ms Phillipson said: “The impact of Sunderland’s cuts have already been fairly catastrophic. We’re stretched to the absolute limit.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sunderland-domestic-violence-womens-refuges-wearside-women-in-need-a7506186.html

Sunderland

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Updates

2017-01-06 06:49:00 +0000

1,000 signatures reached

2017-01-04 20:40:53 +0000

500 signatures reached

2017-01-03 20:32:03 +0000

100 signatures reached

2017-01-03 15:52:31 +0000

50 signatures reached

2017-01-03 12:51:56 +0000

25 signatures reached

2017-01-03 10:48:35 +0000

10 signatures reached