Swansea Women’s Aid provides temporary accommodation to women who need to leave their current circumstances in an emergency. It offers women a safe space to find out about the options available to them and make decisions for their future.

All women coming into our accommodation work with a specialist Support Worker who settles them into the new environment. Support Workers can give women emotional support, listening to them if/when they want to talk about their experiences and discussing options that may help improve their situation. Support Workers can also provide practical support/information & make referrals to other agencies that assist women with, for example; legal procedures, benefits, housing, health, building self esteem, safety planning, meeting other women in similar circumstances and meeting the needs of children etc…

Swansea Women’s Aid offers 2 types of accommodation – Refuge & Safe House. More information as to how these differ can be found below.

Refuge

Swansea Women’s Aid currently manages 2 fully furnished Refuges. The addresses & locations of each are strictly confidential.

Internally the houses have been fitted with specialist safety systems, such as CCTV, panic alarms, Intercoms & pin-code door entry, Intercom and fire resistant letter boxes.

What makes a Refuge different from a Safe House?

Women share a bedroom with their family but all other communal areas are shared with other residents (e.g. kitchen, lounge, and playroom).

Support Workers are based onsite Monday to Friday during office hours but can be contacted 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via our helpline.

Safe Houses

Swansea Women’s Aid currently manages 3 fully furnished Safe Houses which are spread across the county of Swansea. The addresses & locations of each are strictly confidential.

The Safe Houses are visibly no different to ordinary houses on the outside. Internally, however, they have been fitted with specialist safety systems, such as CCTV, panic alarms, Intercom and fire resistant letter boxes.

What makes a Safe House different from a Refuge?

No shared or communal living – only 1 family lives at the house at any one time. Women who have previously found Refuge living difficult possibly due to their own complex support needs (e.g. mental health, substance misuse, challenging behaviour), may find a Safe House a more suitable alternative.

We are able to accept a woman with a son over the age of 16 who would normally be excluded from accessing Refuge accommodation. Support Workers are NOT based onsite but will arrange support sessions Monday to Friday during office hours. Workers can be contacted 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via our helpline.

For further information or to access the service please contact:
Tel: 01792 644683 - OR
Email: swa@swanseawa.org.uk