A domestic abuse charity which has provided help for survivors and their children for nearly 50 years faces closure of some services after Cheshire East axed its funding, writes Belinda Ryan.
Cheshire East Council has told MyCWA (Cheshire Without Abuse) there is no more money available from April 1, 2025.
This means the support centre, based in Crewe, and its Macclesfield store and community hub, together with the charity’s vital services all face closure unless alternative funding can be found.
Services under threat include a 24/7 crisis helpline, emergency refuge accommodation for families and their pets, and specialist trauma recovery programmes for children and survivor peer groups and specialist one-to-one support.
Now the charity, which helps people across the borough, is desperately trying to raise funds so it can continue with its essential work.
Chief executive Saskia Lightburn-Ritchie (pictured) said: “I can’t quite articulate how catastrophic the impact of this funding decision is going to be.
“It will be felt for decades to come.”
MyCWA not only helps women and men who have fled horrific abuse and keeps them and their children safe, it also helps them to heal and break the cycle of abuse.
Saskia said: “I sat with our survivor group after we got the news and I ended up crying with them because, for one woman, it was the first week she’d ever been.
“What a week to come when you find out it’s not going to be here any more after April 1.
“Another lady said she would die without this service. She’s been coming for three years and said it’s her family, her support network.
“And there’s the court cases we attend, supporting people in court, which the council staff aren’t able to do because they’re so overwhelmed with cases.”
Cheshire East Council insists supporting victims of domestic abuse remains a priority.
In a statement, children and families committee chair Cllr Carol Bulman (Middlewich, Lab) said: “We commissioned MyCWA on a fixed-term contract to supplement our domestic abuse services until March 2025.
“As this contract is nearing its end, it does not require a formal notice of termination…
“The council provides a robust suite of in-house services, including the domestic abuse family safety unit, statutory children’s services, and strong partnerships with Cheshire Police, housing providers and the voluntary sector.
“Together, these services ensure comprehensive, integrated support for children, young people, victims, and perpetrators of domestic abuse.”
But Saskia told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she feared many women wouldn’t use the council’s service.
She added: “We worked with 4,000 adults and children last year and there are 2,000 adults and children using the centre throughout the year, as well as all the things we do out in the community.
“And 70% of those people, we know… will not go to a council-led service because, for very many of them, they’ve been subject to children’s social care, so they don’t have confidence.”
She said many of the perpetrators of domestic violence manipulate their victims with the threat of the children being taken away to stop them from reporting the abuse.
“People don’t see us [MyCWA] as ‘us and them’, whereas they are more anxious about engaging with the police or the local authority – a professional from an agency that has power over them,” said Saskia.
“Whereas our approach is to work alongside people rather than make decisions about them.”
She said the charity also doesn’t have a huge staff turnover, so survivors can see the same person.
She added: “We don’t have anything like the same sickness rates of the local authority [which impacts staff availability].
“You can pretty much guarantee you’re going to meet somebody here that you’ve worked with previously and been supported by and we never turn people away.
“They come to us again and again and again if they need us.”
The Crewe centre is a warm, welcoming, friendly and above all safe place for those at risk of domestic abuse and their children.
Saskia said: “If this goes, it means that the street homeless people that come here for a food parcel, just to get warm, won’t be able to do that.
“The women who are sexually abused or raped won’t be able to come here and directly access support or give their report to the police from here because it’s a place of safety for the community.
“The impact, I think, will be felt for a long time if we weren’t here, like we have been for 47 years, to pick up the pieces and support people to get their lives back on track.”
MyCWA is currently fundraising to try and keep its services going.
Donations can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/savemycwa
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