Outreach service
What is outreach?
Outreach is information and support that can be provided over the phone or face to face with the outreach worker.
The outreach worker offers information on housing, benefits, police procedures and legal issues and can refer a woman on to other agencies if more specialist help is needed.
The outreach worker can accompany a woman on her first visit to a solicitor, benefits agency, the police etc and will speak on behalf of the woman if she requests this. She encourages the woman to make her own decisions and to speak for herself if possible.
In crisis situations we can pay for emergency transport of bus, train or taxi to get a woman to a safe place, such as to a refuge.
We have a service-user charter which explains how we work together with women to empower them. Click here for the service user charter.
Is it confidential?
What women tell to the outreach worker is totally confidential in most circumstances. If there is a need to break this confidentiality, e.g. for reasons of child protection, the outreach worker will explain the reasons to the woman before she speaks to anyone else about the situation.
Can the outreach worker do home visits?
You can talk to the outreach worker on the phone or she can visit you. Whether the visit happens at home depends on the safety of doing so. The outreach worker holds a woman's safety as top priority and will not arrange to meet a woman in a place which she believes would be unsafe. Meeting places are arranged to be as convenient and accessible to the woman as possible within the considerations of safety and privacy.
How do I make an appointment?
Appointments can be made by phone directly or a woman can be referred to us by other agencies. We will never pressurise a woman into having support from us. We are there to empower women not to continue to control them.
We aim to have someone available to talk to every week day on 01773 719111 from 10am to 1pm (except Bank Holidays). We have a confidential answerphone at other times or when we're unavailable.
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