1970s
Exeter Women's Aid (EWA) was founded by a group of women with close links to Exeter's Women's Liberation Movement and Anti-Fascist Committee. Exeter City Council soon agreed to pay rent on a house to be used as a Refuge and a constitution was drawn up. Services are publicised by holding public meetings and writing articles for the local press and TV. Friends of EWA launched to organise fundraising events such as coffee mornings, jumble sales and a disco.
The first Refuge opened its doors, initially to take up to five women and children and as this accommodation was very inadequate a move was soon made to Pennsylvania Road, where the Refuge stayed for over 20 years. Throughout the early years it was expected "that the women in the refuge should run the house as their own home" and that "women should give each other support and security."
Paid staff were appointed to cover week days and to be on call at evenings and weekends. For many years until the move to the present Refuge, a pool of volunteers along with the workers covered all the other hours and weekends. Being on the night rota involved being called out in the early hours for tasks as varied as unblocking drains, admitting women and calling the police because of intruders.
The foresight and ambition of those early days is reflected in the recognition for "a support group for men" and the need to build relations with schools, the police and social workers, despite feeling "unhappy about their attitudes." There are also echoes of different social attitudes throughout the 70s with constant references to "battered women" as well as the aim "that marriages should be kept together at all costs."
1984
- The organisation becomes a charity and a company limited under guarantee with Memorandum and Articles of Association, which are the guiding documents for the Trustees
1990
- Core funding from Social Services and funding from Children In Need for the first Children's Worker gives more security and expands the services the Refuge can offer
1996
- Loss of funding leads to cut backs of staffing to 1 full-time and 1 part-time worker
- a Domestic Violence Forum was formed in the city bringing together statutory and voluntary organisations and raising the profile and awareness of domestic violence
1997
- Safe Project is created to work with girls and young women between the ages of 14 – 25 years affected by domestic violence both in the refuge and in the wider community
2000
- A domestic violence strategy for Devon is developed through the Domestic Violence Network
2002
- Through a continuing partnership with Devon and Cornwall Housing Association and funding from Devon Supporting People, the Refuge moves to its present, much bigger, better equipped and more secure accommodation with 24:7 hour staffing.
- The Refuge team is expanded to include an Assistant Manager, 3 Support Workers, Out of Hours Workers, a Housekeeper and a team of Children and Young People's Workers The development of the Against Domestic Violence and Abuse partnership (ADVA) within Devon County Council leads to increased awareness and funding
- This partnership with ADVA leads to the development of separate dedicated outreach services to cover the Exeter, East and Mid-Devon areas
2003
- EWA enters into a partnership with Devon and Cornwall Probation service to provide support to women whose male partners are on court-mandated perpetrators programmes
- Pattern Changing courses are piloted and quickly gain a strong reputation
2004
- An in house counsellor is appointed to expand the range of support provided
- The first Devon-wide Domestic Violence Awareness Week is held to provide various awareness raising and fund- raising events and activities
2005
- REPAIR (Resolved to End Power and Abuse in Relationships) perpetrator programme is launched and EWA appoints workers to the posts of Women's Safety Worker and Children and Young People's Outreach Worker to ensure that the programme offers support to the whole family.
- Multi-Agency Assessment Conference (MARAC) is established in Exeter to risk manage and devise safety plans to those assessed as being at very high risk of experiencing further domestic violence and abuse
- EWA appoints it's first Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) based in the Exeter Domestic Abuse Safety Unit (EDASU) to support those going through the MARAC process
- 4 Pattern Changing courses a year are run – the high demand for places leads to the need for a waiting list
2006
- An additional IDVA is appointed to support those being referred to the newly established East and Mid Devon MARAC
- A Specialist Domestic Violence Court (SDVC) is established in Exeter and an SDVC IDVA is appointed to support those going though the criminal justice processes
- The post of Assistant Outreach Manager is created to support the expanding outreach team, which also moves to bigger premises
2007
- Demand for services for girls and young women leads to an expansion of the Safe Project with another worker appointed to cover East and Mid-Devon
2008
- A review of services for Children and Young People (CYP) in the Refuge is undertaken and results in an expansion of the CYP team to include a CYP Support Worker, a CYP Support Worker Assistant and 2 Play Support Workers. These offer sessions not only during the day for younger children, but also work later into the evening to provide support and activities for older CYP
- Work with youth organisations led by the Safe Project, highlights the need to raise awareness among young people. The growth in this work and the desire to develop a programme of school sessions in Exeter, East and Mid Devon leads to a successful bid for funding and the appointment of a Safe Project Group Work Facilitator
2009
- An additional IDVA is appointed to work with male victims referred to MARAC and assessed as high risk – the remit of the post is gradually widened to include support to all men affected by domestic violence irrespective of risk level
- Pattern Changing courses are increased to 9 per year
- A Pattern Changing Co-ordinator is appointed to help with the planning and delivery of these courses
- Funding from Devon and Cornwall Probation comes to an end
- EWA changes its Charitable Objects and name in order to move towards a more holistic approach of supporting the wider family and so EWA becomes Stop Abuse For Everyone (SAFE)
2010
- The preventative work with young people done by the Safe Project (now known as Young People's services) is expanded to include boys and young men
- Funding for the post of Safe Project Groupwork Facilitator comes to an end and further funding is not secured
- An additional Outreach Worker is appointed to help deal with the high demand for outreach services – despite this, there is still the need to continue to operate a waiting list and to priorities those most in need of support
2011
- Devon County Council announces proposal to cut funding to ADVA by 100%. We launch a huge a campaign joined by the other Devon-wide services: North Devon Women's Aid and Against Domestic Violence and Abuse: South Devon. Actions include attendance at DCC meetings, writing and lobbying councilors and MPs, daily press releases, Twitter and Facebook (this reaches a following of more than 6,000,) Open Days and much press coverage locally and some national press references. Approximately 35% of funding is lost and some valued workers leave. Reduced funding leads to the loss of Outreach capacity, the specialist worker with men as well as a huge reduction in Pattern Changing. Funding for the specialist team that work with children living in the Refuge is severely affected and a much reduced service is eventually restored. Work begins on actively seeking alternative funding and other plans to secure the future of the charity.
An independent review of the organisation demonstrates the high quality of the services provided by SAFE. It also makes useful recommendations about the need for development of strategic leadership As the year ends the close collaboration between the 3 Devon specialist services is formalised in the establishment of the Devon Domestic Violence Consortium.
