Latest news with #vulnerableWomen
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Knottingley B&B to become women's support retreat
A support charity said its new retreat for vulnerable women would help them "live safely with dignity and purpose".The Pontefract-based Saviour Trust has been given permission to convert a former guesthouse in Knottingley into a centre, in the former Wentvale B&B on Great North Road, would house 12 residents.A Wakefield Council planning officer said the scheme would "ensure a viable continued use for the building within an accessible, suburban location". Documents submitted to the council said residents would have their own rooms and a minimum of two staff members would be on site at all times, with specialist support staff visiting throughout the accommodation is intended to be temporary while residents work through a programme of up to 12 months, according to the Local Democracy Reporting planned include a gardening club, choir, yoga, fitness classes, art clubs, outdoor cinema and volunteer work in local organisations. 'Amazing results' Alistair Crompton, head of community engagement at Five Towns Christian Fellowship, gave his support to the said: "Due to cuts to local councils and other services, we see nationally a massive shortage of help and support for those who are classed as homeless and/or those on the edges of society."Most of these people are seen as a nuisance, menaces to society and a general problem."They get thrown into a hotel or hostel with little to no support."More often than not, these individuals have complex needs and historically trauma that has never been addressed, or dealt with."The individuals are extremely vulnerable and the vulnerability and risk increases considerably for women."Mr Compton said his organisation had been working with the Saviour Trust for the past 18 months on a support hub project in added: "It has been an absolute joy to work alongside them, they are open-handed, honest, trustworthy and because of the integrity and character of who they are, we have seen some amazing results." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Telegraph
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Labour are allowing violent criminals to abuse their victims again
The Labour Government is once again putting at risk the lives of vulnerable women at the hands of domestic violence offenders and perpetrators of sexual violence. The announcement by the Secretary of State for Justice that the recall time to be served by offenders who have been released into the community to serve the remainder of their custodial sentence under supervision, and have gone on to reoffend, is reduced to a fixed 28 day period. This is regardless of the seriousness of the original crime, the subsequent crime, and what risk to the public this offender presents. This means that in some cases a serious offence of domestic violence has been committed and likely that a further domestic violence offence has taken place when the offender was out in the community on licence. The legislation applies to defenders who have been given a custodial sentence of between one and four years by a Crown Court Judge. This, by definition, means that the offence was too serious to be dealt with by the Magistrates Court whose sentencing powers would be insufficient. We are talking about the most serious cases of attempted strangulation and attempted rape of women. We know that in the most serious of cases men who are allowed to continue to commit domestic violence offences will eventually go on to kill their victims. This ruling does not take this into account and does not make an exception of these serial offenders. Labour are putting women's lives at risk. This policy of limiting recall to prison to 28 days has come about because the prisons are at capacity breaking point. Years of failure by successive governments to build new prisons and plan for the future has brought us to this point of crisis in our judiciary. Male prisons may well be at 99 per cent of capacity but dealing with that should be quite a separate concern to the safety of victims of sexual offenders and domestic abuse. Prison capacity should never be a consideration when a judge is considering a sentence. So many victims of domestic violence do not come to court to face their attacker – often a husband or partner – because of the fear of retribution. So when a victim is brave enough to put themselves through the gruelling ordeal of a trial and feel the relief when their attacker is sent to prison – how frightening to then hear that they are out on licence to attack again and again. The ramifications of this policy will be felt far and wide by vulnerable women. As a former Magistrate of 20 years, much of that time spent dealing with the horrors of domestic violence, to me this ruling only serves to undermine the sentence arrived at by the judge. Careful consideration to the victims is given when sentencing the perpetrators of serious sexual attacks and domestic violence. This ruling will discourage victims from coming forward for fear that their attackers will be released far sooner than they deserve, putting victims in fear of their lives. This is not justice – this is political failure.
BBC News
09-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Specialist housing project for vulnerable women opens in Dorset
A new housing scheme for vulnerable women has officially opened in Haven was bought and refurbished by Dorset Council to provide housing for six women deemed at risk of rough scheme has 24-hour onsite support and provides a home free from harm and danger.A cherry tree was planted and a plaque unveiled on Tuesday by housing councillor Gill Taylor. She said: "I am so proud to officially open the first scheme of its kind in the area."This scheme will provide vulnerable women a platform to rebuild their lives and thrive, giving them stability so they can find the strength, confidence and ability to grow and make strides towards making a happy and independent life for themselves."The project has been largely funded by the government's Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) via Homes England.A second grant from Homes England has funded the support service for the next three years, provided by homelessness charity Julian House chief executive Helen Bedser said: "We are excited to grow our services within Dorset, ensuring that women in the community have specialist support in a secure, stable home where they can rebuild their lives and recover from the trauma of homelessness." You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
