Our Accommodation Project consists of independent flats all within the one building, with one flat fully adapted and accessible for women with disabilities. Staff have an office on site with one-to-one rooms, a kitchen for helping with cooking skills and a wellness room. We have a further outreach flat a short distance away for young women who are more independent. All our flats are fully furnished with bedding, towels, TV and a fully equipped kitchen provided.
It is a semi-supported service, so tenants are expected to be capable of semi-independent living and are responsible for heating, lighting and council tax payments. We offer short-term agreements for a period of up to 18 months with tenancies being renewed every 6 months.
We fully involve our young women in the service and monthly meetings are held with the tenants to discuss issues and ideas to improve our service.
Our support aims to help our young women prepare for a more independent life and tenants have a key worker who provides emotional one-to-one support as well as practical support to help with life skills.
The Project provides a safe and welcoming home for them, sometimes for the first time ever, so they can feel stable enough to begin looking at the difficulties surrounding their childhood sexual abuse, which often underpins many of the problems and behaviours they experience. Examining feelings around the trauma of their abuse helps them to gain control over their lives and develop confidence and a sense of wellbeing.
While the one-to one support is an important aspect of the young women’s time in Accommodation, there is also time for fun. We run weekly sessional activities, ranging from cooking and baking together to games nights, gym sessions, trampolining, horse riding and trips to the beach and cinema. These are great for forming relationships with each other and getting out into the world and trying new things again. It helps the young women to build confidence in themselves and realise their self-worth.
Around a year into her tenancy, a young women will begin the process of moving to her own tenancy or other accommodation. Her key worker will support her to prepare for this and to link in with other agencies.
Our staff will support the young woman during the six weeks when she is moving from the Accommodation Project into her new home, and will visit her again six weeks later to ensure all of her new supports are organised.
When she leaves our Accommodation Project, that doesn’t have to be the end of her journey with SAY Women. If she wants to, she can continue her emotional support at our Resource Service.
Hours of Service:
Monday to Friday: 9.30am – 9.30pm
Plus a 24-hour on-call service for emergencies
