Refuge - 01494 461367
Outreach - 01494 449922
IDVA - 01494 449922

About us

Introduction

Wycombe Women’s Aid is a charity and company limited by guarantee.  Our vision is of a world where women and children live their lives free from domestic and sexual violence.  We work from a feminist perspective and are committed to the principles of self-help and mutual support.  Our services are based on 6 principles:

  • To believe women and children’s experiences of abuse
  • To prioritise women and children’s safety
  • To support empowerment and self help
  • To care for the emotional, educational and developmental needs of children affected by abuse
  • To challenge discrimination and promote equal opportunities
  • To provide women for women services

Our Core Values reflect our history and were compiled by our clients, employees and trustees:

WOMEN’S POWER – we believe in self-determination and women’s power to take back control of their lives.

LISTENING AND BELIEVING – we listen to women and children and believe they are the experts in their own lives.

EQUALITY – we value equality of opportunity within our diverse community. We believe domestic violence is a contravention of our human rights.

CHOICE – we place women and children at the heart of everything we do and respect their choices.

RESPONSIVENESS – we are responsive to the views of women and children to develop our provision of confidential and informed services

Fact

One domestic violence incident is reported to the Police every minute

As our service exists to support women and children who have experienced violence and abuse, our service in itself is a contribution towards equality in our society. Our service is for women and children, by women, therefore we do not employ men. Wycombe Women’s Aid is exempt under the Equality Act 2010 pursuant to Schedule 9, Part 1.

Wycombe Women’s Aid is affiliated to WAFE (Women’s Aid Federation England) – the key national charity working to end domestic violence against women and children.  WAFE supports a network of over 500 domestic and sexual violence services across the UK.

Workers and Trustees

The Management Committee has overall responsibility for the organisation.  The Management Committee members (Trustees) are made up of women (only) volunteers who meet on a monthly basis.  We currently have 5 full Trustees and a further 4 co-opted Trustees.

Wycombe Women’s Aid has 4 safe houses, all of which were named after women who were instrumental in setting up Wycombe Women’s Aid in the early 1980s.

The staff team (all women) currently comprises:

  • CEO
  • Finance Manager
  • Operations Manager
  • Refuge Manager
  • 2 Support Workers
  • Child Development Worker
  • Therapeutic Manager
  • Counsellor
  • IDVA / Outreach Manager
  • 3 IDVA (Independent Domestic Violence Advocate) / Domestic Abuse Caseworkers
  • General Assistant
  • Health & Safety Worker

Wycombe Women’s Aid also buys in the services of a Clinical Supervisor and a Gardener. 

Equal Opportunities

Women and children seeking to access Wycombe Women’s Aid services will be treated equally regardless of their race, age, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, religion or cultural beliefs.

Wycombe Women’s Aid is a gender-specific service, supporting all women survivors of domestic violence.
Wycombe Women’s Aid is committed to promoting equality and diversity within the services we deliver to survivors of domestic violence. This includes making our refuge, outreach and IDVA services inclusive. We recognise that lesbian, bisexual and trans* women may also be subject to violence and abuse from their current or former partner and all of our support services are accessible to, and available for, lesbian, bisexual and trans* women.

Wycombe Women’s Aid is also committed to challenging homophobia, biphobia and transphobia within our service provision.

Safeguarding

Wycombe Women’s Aid is committed to protecting all women and children who use its services from abuse and the welfare of a child or young person will always be paramount.  WWA will not tolerate any kind of abusive behaviour regardless of the age, status or position of the perpetrator and the age, status or position of the person experiencing the abuse.  WWA operates clear processes for child protection at all times and the responsibility for safeguarding lies with the CEO and Services Manager.  Child Protection is a multi-agency responsibility and all agencies should work in cooperation to protect children from harm.  To this end, WWA seeks to maintain good working relationships with Social Care and the Police as they have lead responsibility for dealing with child protection issues.

If you are concerned about a child in Buckinghamshire, it is important that you talk to someone about this.  The Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Children Board website can guide you on what action you can take:

http://www.bucks-lscb.org.uk/concerned-about-child/

Environmental Statement

Wycombe Women’s Aid recognises the pressing need to tackle climate change and is therefore committed to reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.  In this we fully support Bucks Climate Challenge: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/campaign/bucks-climate-challenge/#what-is-buckinghamshire-council-doing

We expect to achieve this mainly by improving energy efficiency in all our buildings, considering the environmental impact of all purchases and encouraging reduced use of private cars and office machinery.

We require our suppliers to provide goods and services with the minimum adverse environmental impact and will give preference to environmentally aware suppliers whenever possible.

So far, we have:

  • Substantially cut the use of paper as we have moved towards electronic notes
  • Installed recycling bins in our offices and at our refuges and discouraged the use of single use plastics
  • Changed to using non-toxic cleaning solutions on all our premises whenever feasible
  • Moved to a policy of purchasing more durable products and favouring repair rather than purchasing new products
  • Implemented a policy of encouraging staff to use public transport if travelling to meet clients and attend meetings where this is feasible
  • Embraced the use of technology for virtual meetings with clients and colleagues, where appropriate, reflecting the client’s preference and referencing safety factors
  • Provided staff with more energy efficient laptops when making replacements

We will maintain a focus on becoming carbon neutral by building on current elements of good practice and continuing to reduce our emissions in the future.

We aim to improve energy efficiency in our buildings by:

  • Continuing to improve working practices in accordance with best advice with a view to energy efficiency
  • Investigating renewable energy sources and making use of funding and discounts available for new technologies which can reduce emissions
  • Working with our landlords and other partners wherever there are shared opportunities for carbon reduction
  • Regularly assessing our progress towards being a carbon neutral organisation and incorporating further steps in achieving this aim in our business planning and long term strategy

Complaints and Comments

All complaints and comments about any of Wycombe Women’s Aid services will be taken seriously. If you would like to make a verbal complaint or comment about one of the services, please contact the relevant Service Manager in the first instance as outlined below:

Counselling Service

Please contact the Therapeutic Manager on 07890 456907

IDVA/Outreach Service

Please contact the IDVA/Outreach Manager on 07483 159152

Refuge Service

Please contact the Refuge Manager on 07825 142353

Youth Service

Please contact the Therapeutic Manager on 07890 456907

If you would like to make a verbal complaint about one of the Service Managers, please contact the CEO in the first instance on 01494 461367.

If you would like to make a complaint about the CEO, please contact the Operations Manager on 01494 461367 for further information about how to be put in touch with the Chair of Trustees.

If you would like to make a written complaint, please contact the Operations Manager on 01494 461367 and request the relevant complaints form.  Alternatively, the form can be downloaded here:

Complaints Form

The completed complaints form can be emailed to enquiries@wycombewomensaid.org.uk or posted to WWA Ltd, PO Box 1477, High Wycombe, HP11 9HP.

If you would like a copy of our full complaints policy, please contact the Operations Manager on 01494 461367 to request this.  

Wycombe Women's Aid P.O. Box 1477 High Wycombe Bucks HP11 9HP Registered Charity No. 299946 Registered Company No. 2245478 ©2016 Wycombe Women's Aid

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Refuge: 01494 461367 Outreach: 01494 449922 IDVA: 01494  449922

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