Not everyone is familiar with the role of community safety in housing. But while we work in the background, we play a key part in supporting residents to feel safe both at home and in their neighbourhood.
Our Community Safety team are here to support our customers experiencing domestic abuse and have received specialist training to help keep people safe at home. We work with a range of partners, including the police and local authorities, to find the best solution for those involved.
This White Ribbon Day, we’re raising awareness of the support housing associations can provide to survivors of domestic abuse.
We want to empower lives, and the work of our Tenancy and Community Safety teams to provide support and guidance to people in need, does just that.
Wesley Gullin, Tenancy Compliance Specialist shares a recent success story:
Escaping abuse
Miss C moved to us to escape Domestic abuse and violence from her ex-partner. She disclosed that there was domestic abuse for the majority of the relationship, including physical, verbal and sexual abuse, as well as controlling and coercive behaviour.
Her partner had been trying to find Miss C since she moved. Miss C did not believe he knew the exact address but believed he would come looking for her. If he found her, Miss C was extremely scared that he may not stop assaulting her and this could lead to her being killed.
Miss C had a strong fear of agencies releasing information to the perpetrator so was very worried about other agencies becoming involved. Someone close to her family was murdered when escaping a violent partner and there was a serious case review, and this is the main reason for her being nervous about this.
Miss C then fled the property and did not feel safe to return. Miss C felt completely isolated in her town, due to having no family or friends there. I felt Miss C needed a lot of emotional and practical support through the process of finding somewhere safe to live, her hair had fallen out through stress and she was visibly extremely frightened.
Providing the right support
I referred Miss C to a Domestic Abuse Service and was in support of her move. I helped support her in applying for housing with the local authority and provided supporting letters to request higher banding. I asked our Financial Responsibility Team to look at her finances and apply for a Discretionary Housing Benefit Payment, which I hoped would support the moving process.
Miss C received gold band and began bidding on suitable properties. I soon found out that she had been successful in her bid on a house and would be moving shortly!
Empowering lives
Miss C wrote to us after she had moved and was absolutely thrilled with the house. She told us that she couldn’t believe the house she had been offered and wanted to thank us for everything we had done for her and her children. Miss C told us that she’d been concerned about people believing her, but the fact that we did has meant she can start her life and get back into work now.
We’re so happy Miss C can begin a new life in a safe home. A fantastic result for someone so deserving.