London Housing Foundation Support the Marylebone Project’s service, The Sanctuary on their second anniversary
London Housing Foundation have announced a grant of £35,000 a year for the next three years to support the work of the Church Army’s Marylebone Project over the next three years.
The Marylebone Project provides a life-changing service for women facing homelessness and is the largest and longest-running centre of its kind in London and the UK with over 90 years of experience supporting vulnerable women in crisis.
The Sanctuary has now been open for two years, providing support, advice, and resettlement options for women in crisis, with many of these women being survivors of domestic violence. In that time, they have had over 20,000 individual visits to The Sanctuary service, providing over 3,000 nights of emergency accommodation.
Evie Oglethorpe, Fundraising Officer at the Marylebone Project said:
We saw a large increase of women experiencing domestic violence during lockdown and more women in clear need of services like ours. We are very grateful to LHF for their support, especially as it comes just as we celebrate two years of our 24/7 service being open. This grant will allow us to add to the support our Independent Domestic Violence Advisor already gives, enhancing our service to provide targeted, person-led care.
The team have found that 47% of the women they see now describe themselves as survivors of domestic violence, which is more than double the figure of a few years ago.
Valentina has benefited from the Project’s specialist support:
Everything was so stressful at the time, especially losing custody of my daughter after dealing with the domestic violence case. I was really depressed and not myself.
The Marylebone Project’s dedicated staff advocated for Valentina, helping her win custody of her daughter, and encouraging her into healthcare education.
[Marylebone Project] really supported me, which was inspiring, and I got her back! On top of that, I’ve officially become a registered nurse.
Ian Brady, Executive Chair of London Housing Foundation said:
We are very pleased to be able to support the crucial work that the Marylebone Project provides. Sadly, incidents of domestic violence continue to increase, and it is vital that services like this are able to keep giving survivors options.
For more information about The Marylebone Project go to Home – The Marylebone Project. For pictures or an interview contact mark@markwall.co.uk You can find out more about LHF at www.lhf.org.uk
