Women's Aid - Updated Council Statement

7th April 2023

Highland Council has been made aware that Inverness Women's Aid has taken the decision to change the service that they provide, which includes closing the Inverness refuge.

The Council received no prior notice of this decision and so cannot provide any information about the reason for this change of practice.

However, Inverness Women's Aid has released its own statement of reassurance here - https://www.facebook.com/InvernessWomensAid/posts/pfbid0hjzxkh8qoV75ZHo9EY9RqAWx6du9oVY4mcdCCyH7AuUxRpNDJ9RLo3TtUwvzXWK3l
Inverness Women's Aid continues to operate as normal, providing support to women & families and we are absolutely here for anyone who needs our services ☆
We are aware that stories about changes to our service have appeared on social media this evening, subsequent to a press release from Highland Council. We just want to clarify that our service is indeed undergoing some changes but these are very positive developments which have been planned over a long period.
We are moving out of our current premises as part of a phased transition to a new model for providing our service. This model will involve having an outreach base and continued support for women to obtain safe & appropriate accommodation within the community. The numbers of women & families using our refuge accommodation in the last year has decreased significantly - this new approach will make better use of our already insufficient funding and enable us to continue to meet the real needs of our clients.This is a model similar to ones used by many Women's Aid services across Scotland.
So be reassured that our service will be continuing into a strong future, empowering women to recover from domestic abuse.
As we had planned to do, we will be putting out further information about these exciting changes in the next week.
**Please share this update in order to correct any misinformation and to reassure**

The Council's homelessness service will step in to provide emergency support whilst we try to understand the implications of this decision by Women’s Aid Inverness.

Highland Council’s Housing Service can provide emergency accommodation to victims of domestic abuse to offer an immediate place of safety. Safe at Home measures can also be provided and these include services such as additional door locks, chains and lighting.

Advice is offered during the course of the temporary accommodation and Housing will work with partner agencies such as Police Scotland to ensure that the household safety is paramount at all times.

If you require help and support, please contact:

Homelessness Team

Phone 01349 886691 (evenings or weekends) or 01349 886602 (Monday - Friday daytime hours).

We also understand that Ross-shire Women’s Aid is still providing refuge accommodation in Dingwall.

Caithness and Sutherland Women's Aid at https://www.caswa.org.uk/