Trevi secures funding as a warm space this winter in supporting vulnerable women

Plymouth based, award-winning women’s charity Trevi is pleased to have been awarded a £4,000 grant from the Household Support Fund to be used to provide a Warm Space for women who use their Sunflower Women’s Centre and live in Plymouth.

The Warm Spaces grants are designed to enable and facilitate groups/ organisations by providing funding to offer additional warm spaces to the community. The aim is to mitigate inequality, reduce social isolation and provide support to address community concerns around the cost of living whilst staying and being well.

The funding will help Trevi potentially support over 300 women in Plymouth. It will help pay towards heating and electric bills to ensure a warm space, WIFI, food and access to a community microwave and kettles for women in need in the city.

Over the last year, 659 women have accessed Trevi’s Sunflower Women’s services, with 58 women coming on site daily. More than a third of women had an offending history, of whom 30% were on Probation Orders or licence; 27% were care leavers; 69% had experienced childhood trauma, 78% had experienced domestic abuse; 56% were at risk of or involved in sexual exploitation/survival sex/sexual violence, 77% suffered mental health issues. 72% of women overall were aged 31-65.

Over the past year, 96% of women supported by Sunflower say it has been a lifeline, with 85% able to move forward in life.

Paula Carnell, Sunflower Women’s Centre Manager, says, ‘It is vital to be able to provide vulnerable women with warm spaces this winter which should also be safe. Creating a welcoming space is a great chance to involve women in other activities supporting their well-being and sense of connection to others and their local community. Here at our Sunflower Women’s Centre, we have a cosy living room where women can meet and connect on a daily basis; they will have access to warm drinks in the kitchen, toilet facilities and WIFI and of course, good conversation!’

Trevi’s Sunflower Women’s Centre works in partnership with several other third sector or public-sector organisations. It is also the base for their Spark Assertive Outreach Workers and Pause Plymouth Practice – both of these services work with the hard to reach women with multiple complex needs.
The Warm Spaces funding will help Trevi continue to provide a warm living room at the front of the Sunflower Women’s Centre where women can meet and connect. Staff will continue to meet with them, and signpost to either co-located partners (such as Money Advice Plymouth and the Job Centre) or other partners outside of the organisation, supported by their Assertive Outreach Practitioners who ‘get alongside’ each woman to make sure that her voice is heard and her needs are met. Women will be able to continue to obtain free food from the Sunflower kitchen – including fruit, vegetables, staple carbohydrates such as cereals, pasta and bread, tinned products and more. The kitchen is also used as a space for women to bring in their own food to cook using our community microwave.

Trevi is registered as a warm space until March 31st 2023. The Sunflower Women’s Centre is open from 9.30-4.30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday and 9.30-1.00pm on a Wednesday.

Please check their website for Christmas closures https://trevi.org.uk/contact