Mayor's Charity Appeal 2016/2017

This year, as Telford and Wrekin's Mayor,  Cllr Rae Evans has chosen to support the work of West Mercia Women's Aid & Refuge who help women and children  at risk due to domestic abuse.   It is saddening to think that during the last 12 months in our Borough alone there were almost 3000 reported incidents of domestic abuse, many of which involved households with children in them.

The contribution that you make will enable individuals and their children to access support to understand their situation, explore their options to escape abuse and enable them to make that change.  This might include providing a 24hr help and advice line,  additional places on our Freedom Programme (which is heavily oversubscribed) and together with online training and support.

Women often arrive at a refuge in shock after having fled a violent assault.  Some women may have lived with domestic violence for months or years. They may be isolated from family and friends.  Sometimes they need to escape in an emergency and arrive at our refuge with nothing but the clothes they, and their children, are wearing. Your donations may therefore also go to provide them with some of the basics such as toiletries and children's nappies and clothing.

Here in Telford we have plans to refurbish our refuge facilities and hope to raise enough money to enable us to enhance the quality of the short stay that women make, by purchasing items such as garden furniture and toys and outdoor play things for the children.

As you can see, there's a lot to do and every pound that you donate will make a huge difference!

To find out more about how to get help if you or someone you know is the victim of domestic abuse, please use the link below:

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/abuse/Pages/domestic-violence-help.aspx