Every day Solace sees women and children flee to our refuges with absolutely nothing and are having to move into empty homes and empty kitchens. That’s why Solace, London’s leading domestic abuse charity, partnered with Wavemaker and Hearst media to launch a campaign that shows women and children escaping domestic abuse who are left with nothing.
53% of women lose their tenancy after fleeing abuse and 30% of women are turned away from safe housing more than 6 times. Many women have to wait more than 6 weeks to receive universal credit and are victims of economic abuse, so our emergency fund is often the only place to turn. Last year Solace launched an emergency fund which helps women who have nothing reach basic needs like buying food, warm clothes in the winter and even a bed for them to sleep on. This year this fund is more in need than ever before with the reversal of the Universal Credit benefit uplift and rising gas prices.
Solace are seeing more of a demand for this support than ever before, so it is vital that we keep going to keep this emergency money open during the winter. For the last year, Solace have been working with Wavemaker staff to develop a campaign that brings to light this desperate situation and actively make a change.
Wavemaker Robert Jane (Chief Talent Officer) says this of the partnership: “Solace provide an invaluable support to individuals and families facing and fleeing violence at home. At Wavemaker we are honoured and very proud to have formed a long term partnership with the Solace team. The chatbot built out earlier this year followed now by this campaign we hope provides help to those that need it most at the moment they need it and also brings home to everyone the real horrors for those suffering at the hands of domestic violence and why the work Solace do is so important in the communities we all live in.”
Judith Banjoko, Solace’s Joint Interim CEO, says “It has been wonderful working with Wavemaker over the last year to create this campaign. Every day women are coming to our services with absolutely nothing as it gets colder and benefits are cut, we have to do more to make sure[JB1] women and children who have fled abuse have their basic needs met. This campaign will make sure we can do everything we can to make sure they are safe and warm. And have the chance to start a new life free from violence and abuse.”