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Solace Women’s Aid is an independent charity providing a comprehensive range of services for women and children affected by domestic and sexual violence.

We aim to provide excellence in all our services, placing women and children who use our refuge and community based services at the heart of the organisation. 

All our Services work in a holistic and empowering way so that service users can live independent lives free from domestic and sexual violence.

We offer safe housing in our refuges across London and also offer community based support for women living in their own homes.

We offer dedicated Legal, Advice, Counselling and Parenting Services and Domestic Violence Workshops. We offer Children’s Services, which include Individual and Group Support and Counselling.

We will always arrange an interpreter where needed and several of our staff speak community languages.  We have disability access to refuge space and to community services and will arrange local meetings in fully accessible community buildings if required.

• Their refuges are primary female only zones apart from males only up to the age of 12.
• The refuges are made up of self contained flats or rooms with communal spaces.
• There are 9 refuges across London
• Young people are referred to the refuges by social workers, teachers, and solaces own advisers.
• They also received Community referrals from Islington and Camden
• They also do preventive work in schools and the youth service in Islington.
• The young people are primarily made up of Irish Traveller or a diversity BME background.
• Some of the young people are in this country illegally either due to being brought into this country illegally or their ID/passport being with their abuser. 
• They plan for campaigning around to the access to the domestic violence services. To make it more accessible and easy to anyone wishing to access the services. Also combat the barriers and stereotypes.
• Of the women accessing the refuge,1/3 are between 18 and 19 years old.
• The 13 to 18 year olds that access the service is mainly because of they are being forced into marriage, facing sexual bullying but also young men who are victims of violence.
• There is some new funding for young people affected by domestic violet. The Solace has strong local links to be able to take advantage of this.
• Solace has just been funded for 5 years by Lottery BIG for a new young person’s project.
• This includes supplying one to one support link to other organisations such as the youth service and connections.
• Develop a youth led project; they are currently working on the initial ideas so the young people have ownership from the start.
• The Young people forum is a mixed group of10 -14year olds.  They are also linking up with the young women’s group.
• The forum will be working on domestic violence awareness and where to go for young people, accessing the services and combating stigma.
• They believe domestic violence isn’t right and shouldn’t happen. Also there should be peer support to help those affected by it.
• Their youth forum is only just setting up and they would like the HUV campaign training in that. Firstly they would like to attend one of the HUV residentials.
• They would be keen to get involved in the YAA and would like our support setting them up as a PU and running the awards.

 For further info please go to http://www.thehideout.org.uk/over10/default.aspa 

Ayushi Patel story “I can do something to change things around me”

 When Ayushi started she had very little knowledge of how to express herself to decision makers particularly through the use of new media. One year on and Ayushi is now an inspiration to newer members of HUV. Having made new friends from all acrossEngland, and travelling to a new county for each residential Ayushi has a new found confidence in herself and her abilities. Ayushi received training at the HUV residentials on various subjects such as podcasting, media management, starting up a campaign and acting a representative for her local group to name just a few. Ayushi has now been empowered to attend events on behalf of the HUV Steering Group such as a recent meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Youth Affairs inWestminsterwhich was attended by high profile MP.s, at which Ayushi spoke up in front of the whole room. “Being involved in HUV makes me feel that I can do something to change things around me to make it better, I feel more confident to approach decision makers, and recently wrote a letter to my local MP and am now arranging a meeting with them to discuss my campaign Safer Streets”