Communities
Our community services provide support to people experiencing domestic abuse in the community. Our teams offer help with safety planning, financial, housing, emotional and practical support.
Manchester Women’s Aid has a strong history of supporting women and children impacted by domestic abuse since the 1970’s. During this time, we have developed and expanded our Community Outreach Services, supporting men as well as women aged 16+ across the City of Manchester. The remit of all community services is to advocate on behalf of victims, assess their needs, reduce their risk, and improve their safety. All staff use a trauma-informed approach to survivor recovery, ensuring every service user gets the tailored help they need.
HELPLINE
The helpline team are our front door staff who respond to daily calls and emails from service users and external agencies for advice and support. In 2023, we received a total of 2170 referrals into our community services for Connect, Sahara, Restore, IDVA and ISVA.
CONNECT
Connect work alongside Greater Manchester Police, Early Help and Children’s Social Care teams across Manchester in the North, Central and South hubs, enabling a multi-agency response to those experiencing domestic abuse. Staff work on a 1-1 basis with individuals as well as facilitating group work such as the Freedom Programme, Recovery Toolkit, Living Life to the Full which focuses on raising awareness of healthy relationships. This service is accredited by SafeLives and is funded by Manchester City Council.
Sahara
Sahara Service specifically works with CERI clients (Communities Experiencing Racial Inequality) who may face language barriers, immigration issues, so-called honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation as well as domestic abuse. This service is funded by Henry Smith Charity and Garfield Weston Foundation.
RESTORE
Restore - our anti-stalking service - works with clients experiencing stalking and harassment. Clients are referred from Greater Manchester Police, self-referrals and other charities such as Family Action or Victim Support.
Restore workers support victims of ex-intimate partner stalking, and also acquaintance stalking but do not provide support for stranger stalking at present.
Workers provide initial assessments, safety planning for stalking and harassment, housing support, legal support, financial support, emotional and mental health support.
Independent Domestic Violence Advisors
Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) respond to cases open in our community teams that have escalated to high risk and are considered most at risk from harm or homicide. These cases are often referred to MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference). As specialist staff, the IDVAs will work with individuals and families to reduce the risk of harm and support through the court process. Our Independent Sexual Violence Advisor worker will support victims who have experienced rape and sexual assault providing specialist tailored support. These services are accredited by SafeLives.
