Sanctuary Schemes -Staying in the home after the perpetrator has left

Even when an abusive partner has left the home a domestic violence survivor may still not feel safe and the abusive behaviour may continue.  The Sanctuary Scheme aims to enable a survivor to stay at home with extra security features.

What is a Sanctuary Scheme?

A Sanctuary Scheme aims to help survivors of domestic violence to remain in their own homes and feel safe.  This is done by providing additional security to the survivor’s property.  For example, re-inforcing a back door, installing an intruder alarm.  There are three levels of Sanctuary which can be installed to a property, depending on the level of risk faced by the survivor.

Presently Sanctuary Scheme is only available in the City of Nottingham.  The Nottinghamshire Districts are presently setting up or looking at setting up schemes, this site will update this information when it is available.

Nottingham City Scheme:

Applicants to the scheme receive support from the Sanctuary Plus Support Workers.  Applicants to the scheme are also offered legal advice so that they are able to exercise their rights of occupation and exclude the perpetrator from their property.

All properties with a Sanctuary installed are also tagged with the emergency services.  If a 999 call is made from a property, the emergency service operator can see immediately that a Sanctuary has been installed at the address.

Who can apply to the Scheme?

To be eligible to apply to the Sanctuary Scheme, you must:

• Be a survivor of domestic violence
• Live within the Nottingham City Boundary
• Have rights to occupy your property.  The scheme is open to people who own their property and to people who rent their property.  However, in some cases, we do need to ask the landlord’s permission for work to go ahead.

There is no cost to the survivor for the Sanctuary scheme.

How to refer or apply:

All referrals should be made directly to Housing Aid.  Referrals are accepted by agencies and women can also refer themselves.

The contact number is: 0115 9153000. Please call to discuss further whether you or your client meet the criteria.

A referral form can be downloaded from this website – see adjacent. Or go directly to the website link opposite to read more about the scheme and to download a form.

02/07/2007 Nottinghamshire Domestic Violence Forum