International Women’s Month: In support of Women’s Aid Charity

Published 22/2/2023

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This International Women’s Month we are excited to be supporting Women’s Aid.

Throughout March we are celebrating the power of the female. With all female musicians playing across our restaurants, a whole night dedicated to Beyoncé and other female artists, plus Q&A breakfast panels with some of the UKs leading women in business in partnership with Women’s Aid.

We are also raising donations through our customers in our restaurants, where a discretionary £1 will be added on to the bill and all proceeds will go to Women’s Aid.

We caught up with the charity to find out more about their important work.

What are the ways your organisation works to end domestic abuse?

Women’s Aid is the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children. Since 1974 we have been at the forefront of shaping and coordinating responses to domestic abuse, with survivors at the heart of our work. We are a federation of over 170 organisations which provide just under 300 local lifesaving services to women and children across the country.

Women’s Aid provides expert training, qualifications and consultancy to a range of agencies and professionals working with survivors or commissioning domestic abuse services. Our campaigns achieve change in policy, practice and awareness, encouraging healthy relationships and helping to build a future where domestic abuse is no longer tolerated. An estimated 1.6 million women in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2020 with young women aged 16-24 years continuing to be the age group at most risk (ONS 2020).

How can people reach out if they are in need of help or are concerned about someone they know?
If you are worried that your partner, or that of a friend or family member, is controlling and abusive, go to womensaid.org.uk for support and information, including Live Chat, the Survivors’ Forum, The Survivor’s Handbook and the Domestic Abuse Directory. Live Chat is open from 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday and 10 am – 6 pm on weekends for confidential expert support from specialised support workers.

How has the pandemic affected the work that you do?
The strain on statutory services, as well as logistical issues around survivors being more isolated than ever, often living with their perpetrators, has increased demand on our services hugely. In April, during the height of the lockdown, over three quarters (78%) of women experiencing abuse at that time told us they thought Covid-19 made it harder for them to escape abuse. This was still a significant problem in June, in spite of easing lockdown measures:

• One in ten (10%) survivors told us that their abuser had actively used lockdown restrictions to stop them from leaving.
• One-fifth (20.3%) said that they had tried to leave during the pandemic but had been unable to access housing or refuge space

How many people do you help every year?

We are a federation of over 170 organisations which provide just under 300 local lifesaving services to women and children across the country.

What can customers expect their £1 on the bill to go towards?

These donations will be used across all our work towards a society where domestic abuse is no longer tolerated. Every conversation one of our support workers has on the Live Chat Helpline, every training session that we deliver, and every campaign that we run to raise awareness of domestic abuse, is only made possible thanks to donations like these. We are so grateful to every customer whose generosity can support our work in this way; it really will make a difference.