Time for Change

It is time for change in West Dunbartonshire. How do we know? Last week we lost the only violence against women service, Clydebank Women’s Aid, based in the area.

The service is closed due to a number of reasons, not least of all the loss of yet more funding from West Dunbartonshire Council. Years of stand still funding, over ask from the council and a lack of commitment leading to action to tackle violence against women, has brought the service to its knees.

For decades now the violence against women sector has been providing services to some for the most vulnerable women and children in the country, under some of the most challenging circumstances.

The support Clydebank Women Aid was providing included;

·         Emotional support to traumatised families.

·         Providing information on rights (housing / occupancy; children’s rights / child contact; protective orders etc; financial / benefits; privacy)

·         Access to financial and material support / support to set up home.

·         Preparing women for new tenancy.

·         Connecting women to reduce isolation.

·         Supporting women who have specific disabilities, such as autism, ADHD etc.

·         Organising focus groups for West Dunbartonshire Council.

·         Signposting women and children to specialised support.

·         Supporting children to settle into new refuge / new tenancies / schools and nurseries / wider community.

·         Supporting women with additional issues, such as addiction; disabilities;

communication issues; mental health, such as post-traumatic stress.

·         Organisational structures, such as ensuring building and flats maintained; funding

responsibilities; reporting to regulators, such as Care Inspectorate and Charity

Regulator.

The list goes on and on and on. The impact of violence against women and children’s lives requires specialist support that can take the work in all sorts of directions, requiring skilled, compassionate and knowledgeable staff.

Working in the violence against women sector is one of the most rewarding careers you can have, but lets not kid ourselves its easy. You can find yourself doing funding applications in the morning, supporting a distraught woman in the afternoon and painting a wall at night.

The disrespect that has been shown to Clydebank Women’s Aid blows my mind. Those who oversee our services appear to have missed the point.

Yes Clydebank Women’s Aid was an autonomous organisation and that should be respected. Where there were challenges, however, it was EVERYONE’S job to find solutions, not just Clydebank Women’s Aid.