Stroud Women's Refuge:

• Is the ONLY remaining Women's Refuge in the whole of Gloucestershire. The others closed when the government funding was withdrawn

• Founded in 1976

• Provides sanctuary and a new start in life for 32 women and 45 children every year

• Costs £250,000 a year to run (£685 a day)

• Provides specialist help to the children, so they can deal with their own trauma

• Provides training to enable women to build the skills and confidence to start a new life

• Runs workshops with 100's of young people, and relevant professionals, about domestic abuse issues

• Can provide sanctuary to 9 families at a time

The pandemic is causing unprecedented challenges for all of us. We recognise that everyone, including our clients, staff and trustees, supporters and communities are in incredibly difficult situations and will need the support of each other in the months ahead. As we write this newsletter, all our fundraising events planned for the forthcoming months have been cancelled. Obviously, the situation with coronavirus is restricting what we can do to raise funds for the refuge. So ANY money that you can donate at this time will be especially valued and appreciated. While home is considered the safest place to be for most of us, this is far from the reality for victims of domestic abuse who will be trapped, and where self-isolation and social distancing could be used to control and limit opportunities to access help. The refuge staff are continuing to work with women experiencing domestic abuse. The Coronavirus pandemic has meant that we have needed to make necessary adjustments to our working patterns, and the delivery of our services, to enable continuity of support and preserve safety of families and staff members.