Closure-threatened Clydebank Women's Aid says it will fight tooth and nail to provide vital service
A closure-threatened women’s aid charity has gained overwhelming support from across Scotland after it launched a last-ditch petition to save it from closure.
Clydebank Women’s Aid (CWA) says council cuts of £191,000 to its vital services for women and families fleeing violence will cost lives.
Now it plans to pull out all the stops to force West Dunbartonshire Council to rethink its decision.
In just a matter of days over 1,500 supporters have signed a petition pleading with council chiefs to rethink the decision.
And the group, which has been in existence since 1981, says the council can’t ignore its pleas.
We’re not being emotive. Service users have told us we provide a life and death service
A spokeswoman for CWA told TFN: “It’s an outrage the council can even be considering this. Our service users are devastated by the news. But supporters have rallied to the cause and there has been an incredible reaction on Twitter and Facebook.”
A protest is planned for next week when the council meets to ratify its proposed budget with hundreds of supporters expected to turn up.
And the spokeswoman warned: “We are not exaggerating when we say lives will be lost if the service closes.
“We’re not being emotive. Service users have told us we provide a life and death service.
“We don’t just deal with emergency cases. We serve women for months, even years after they come to us.
“Support is ongoing – our services are not about quick fixes. That takes time, money and effort.”
The Labour-led council says cuts to its budget from central government means savings and stark decisions have to be made.
Therefore it would only support housing-related costs, such as its refuge accommodation, but not care or support.
In effect the council will be handing the housing benefit claimed by individuals back to the group while axing all other funding.
“It means we will only be able to supply janitorial duties – we wouldn’t be able to afford care staff,” said the CWA spokeswomen.
Almost 700 women were supported last year, along with their children by the group.
Some 36 of them were housed in their support facility over the year, while the rest were given ongoing counselling and supported through court cases and other challenges.
Dumbarton District Women's Aid is also facing closure – meaning vulnerable women in the region will have nowhere to turn if they need support.
A spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council said: “Given the financial challenges facing all councils, West Dunbartonshire is no longer in a position to fund what was previously identified by Women’s Aid as the ‘care’ element of their service.”
Clydebank Women’s Aid is just one a number of Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA) affiliated groups facing financial problems.
National umbrella body Scottish Women’s Aid has also raised concerns about three groups in North Lanarkshire and others in North Ayrshire and Fife.
Clydebank MSP Gil Paterson said: "This is a vital service for women and children who have experienced domestic abuse and any cut to funding will have an adverse impact on those vulnerable people who, in their hour of need, require as much support as possible."
