Gill Herd – Contract Performance Manager – Ascent Advice and Counselling partnership – Solace Women’s Aid About Solace Women’s Aid The following slides will give you a brief overview of Solace and the Ascent Advice and Counselling partnership and the work we have done to make our services more accessible.

Our Vision Solace Women’s Aid’s vision is of a world where women and children live their lives free from domestic and sexual violence. Our Mission Solace Women’s Aid exists to bring an end to the harm done to women and children through domestic and sexual violence. Our work is holistic and empowering, working alongside women and children to achieve independent lives free from abuse.

Our values Women and children focused and empowering - Individual service users are at the heart of the service they receive. - Service User led - based on their needs, goals and aspirations. - Support women and children to help them cope, recover and move forward with their lives free from abuse. - Solace is committed to providing equal opportunities and working towards a fairer society where everyone has the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

Our values Diverse and anti-discrimination in all it’s forms Solace is committed to providing equal opportunities and working towards a fairer society where everyone has the opportunity to fulfill their potential. We are anti-discrimination in the provision of services and the treatment of all staff, volunteers and service users. We strive to ensure proportional representation in service users, staff and volunteers, and this is monitored through staff surveys and recruitment procedures. Training on equality and diversity is a core component of the staff induction programme and staff Equality and Diversity Champions are in place in each borough, taking a leading role in developing best practice in this area. All staff are encouraged to raise any issues around equality and diversity in their supervision meetings and team meetings (it is a standing agenda item).

Our values Feminist in our understanding of domestic and sexual violence Violence against Women and Girls services were first established in the 1970's to meet the need for safe houses for women fleeing violence. Women involved in the feminist movement in the 1970's identified and acted on the need. We have continued to develop our understanding of Violence Against Women and Girls. Our understanding now includes the inter-relationship between all forms of discrimination i.e. between gender, race, disability, sexuality and social class. We recognise that the individual power and control exercised by perpetrators depends on the roles and power men hold in society as a whole and so change needs to be societal as well as individual. Education and campaigning are instrumental to achieving this and for this reason we take as many opportunities as possible to hold and speak at workshops, conferences and to groups in our boroughs.

Our services Lambeth: Children’s Groups; Young People’s Service, and 3 Refuges (1 subcontracted to Asha); Outreach Family Support; Community Group North London Rape Crisis: Covers Barnet; Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, and Westminster Barnet: 2 Refuge s, Children’s Groups, Advocacy & Support (men &women), perpetrator programme; Leap Into Work; JWA; Barnet Asian Women’s Association Camden: Complex Needs Refuge, Iris Project Pan London services: Advice Service; Counselling; Irish Traveller; Over 55’s; Legal services; Shpresa project; Art & Drama therapy for children & young people; Ascent ; London Councils (Prevention Strand) Southwark: Advocacy & Support (men &women); Children’s Groups, perpetrator programme; Sanctuary Scheme; Counselling; ARISE; Peer Support Group; Women’s Group Islington: 2 Refuges; Advocacy and Support; Iris Project; WRAP; Children’s Groups and Young People’s Services; Ascent Advice Spoke Enfield: Refuge; Advocacy; Advice; Floating Support; Young People’s Services ; SPOE, Iris project Haringey: 3 Refuges, Floating Support, POW Project; Leap Into Work Kingston/Richmond: Ascent; DV Group Workshop

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women  In 2015 Gender-based violence remains as prevalent as ever  1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced some form of physical/ sexual violence  Leaving an abusive relationship is always hard but it can be much harder to leave and get support if for example: -you’re disabled and the perpetrator may be your carer; -you have No Recourse to Public Funds and don’t have knowledge of the language or the system; -you’re LGBT & need to ‘out’ yourself in order to get support

Ascent Advice and Counselling  What is the Ascent Advice and Counselling Partnership? -Funded by London Councils, part of London VAWG Consortium Advice and counselling services to women and girls affected by all forms of violence across all of London (age 14+), legal advice and training and small fund to support NRPFs women. Delivered via a Hub and Spoke model - via 2 London Hubs A Pan-London partnership, designed to plug gaps and increase access to services A unique partnership of 14 specialist orgs, over 50% BME orgs. crease access to services, to compliment local provision.

Ascent Advice service  Solace, as lead partner, recently completed a Social Impact Analysis which showed that: -77% of our SUs were BME -28% disabled -100% of Ascent A&C partners are VAWG and over 50% BME specialist – led by and for. -SUs highlighted the importance of receiving specialist services where their needs are understood crease access to services, to compliment local provision.

Ascent Advice service  Our impact analysis shows that the Partnership has increased access to services for many women fleeing violence  However, it is important to make sure that the services are as accessible as possible as widely as possible. crease access to services, to compliment local provision.

Towards accessible services  As a partnership we used our monitoring data to identify gaps certain protected characteristics groups and specifically deaf and disabled users  We identified the need for training and so commissioned some bespoke training from Inclusion London and the HEAR Network  Whilst part of the training was awareness raising we also wanted it to have a very practical focus – separate frontline and manager days.  Important space to express fears and to have a safe space to discuss issues in a non-judgemental way  This training and guidance energised us into developing next steps crease access to services, to compliment local provision.

Towards accessible services  Steps: - Worked in partnership- internal and external -We developed and maintained a working relation ship with the HEAR Network to guide and support us– reduce the fear! -At Solace we also used an E&D consultant to help guide our practice across the Organisation. -We made E&D a standing agenda item for all our meetings and made sure that it was a live issue at every level. crease access to services, to compliment local provision.

Some achievements to date -All partners trained around how to create more accessible services for deaf and disabled users. -We have in place a shared statement of intent outlining how we will work together to create more accessible services. -Signed off by all partners -We have developed a London service directory of disability orgs -We’re now reaching a more service users -In Solace we have E&D Champions who vigorously champion and defend E&D issues across the Org. crease access to services, to compliment local provision.

Our Statement of Intent -We have begun to: Build a culture that is welcoming and inclusive. Include disability training within induction processes for. Make websites as accessible as possible to deaf and disabled people, e.g. use of plain English; by including information about travel routes, accessible parking. Ensure publicity materials are as accessible as possible. Make adjustments such as signage, colours etc. to the environment where services are delivered. Provide information on Ascent services and build and promote strong links with organisations working with deaf and disabled people. crease access to services, to compliment local provision.

Our Statement of Intent Work in partnership and collaboration with local user-led disability organisations. Consult with deaf and disabled people about the services, what has/ not worked well and suggestions for improvements Ensure monitoring and evaluation tools measure the uptake of deaf and disabled people in services provided. Regularly discuss, review and put strategies in place. Encourage and support deaf and disabled people to volunteer within our organisations Ensure sound equality and diversity practice. crease access to services, to compliment local provision.

Conclusion – what we’ve learnt so far We have made some great progress, small things can make a difference! It’s a continuous journey and there’s always more we can do We don’t need to reinvent the wheel as there’s lots of expertise out there We need to work closely together across all sectors to enable greater choice and enhanced services to users We need to involve users every step of the way and ask what they need Evaluation/ Impact Analysis is vital in understanding how effectively we are delivering our services. crease access to services, to compliment local provision.

Thanks to the HEAR Network for all the help and support It’s an honour to get this award If you’d like any more information about Solace or the Ascent Advice and Counselling partnership Contact Gill Herd – Contract Performance Manager –