Women-Only Shelter To Open

The Shelter Trust has got the keys for the island's first women-only shelter.

It has space for up to 22 people and is aimed at improving the level of support offered to vulnerable women in need.

Until now, only the short-stay Women's Refuge could offer specialist support to women in urgent need of emergency accommodation.

Neville Benbow, chair of the Shelter Trust, says women in a vulnerable place need to feel safe and have a place to call their own.

"We're talking about many people who are going to come to us who are in abusive relationships.

They may have stayed at Women's Refuge, which has been (a) fantastic support for them, but it's only short-stay accommodation.

It gets them through a difficult period of time, but where do they go from there?

They have to have somewhere that is going to give them certainty, somewhere that is going to give them a helping hand on the way back to a better future.

That's really what this facility can provide."

The Shelter Trust first announced its plans to open a dedicated facility for homeless and vulnerable women in June 2021.

The original aim was to have it open by the end of the same summer.

Shelter Trust CEO Neville Benbow has explained the delay to Channel 103.

"We had to make sure that the building we had was really fit for its purpose.

It needed some redevelopment, it needed some building work, and we have now got that building work complete and we're now just about ready to go."

The shelter also has two self-contained apartments where homeless women who have lost contact with their families can be helped in developing the skills and confidence needed to get back in touch with their loved ones.

It's aimed at providing a safe living environment whilst creating access to services including health, counselling, education, and employment.

"There has been a pressing need for specialist support for socially excluded women, especially those whose difficult situations worsened as a result of the pandemic.

This new service will significantly address current gaps in provision and enhance the level of care and support available to them." - Jurat Rozanne Thomas, Trustee of the Shelter Trust.

£190,000 of money from the Fiscal Stimulus fund contributed to creating this shelter.

The Christians Together in Jersey Housing Trust, the Roy Overland Charitable Trust, the Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, Ocorian Trustees, the Ann Alice Rayner Fund, and Le Gallais Real Estates Ltd. also provided financial support.