WOMEN IN SAFE HOMES FUND SOCIAL IMPACT REPORT 2022/23
IMPACT THEME: Housing & Homelessness, Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, Work & Employment, Poverty and Disadvantage, Rehabilitation and Criminal Justice
WHAT THEY DO: Nacro is a national social justice charity with more than 50 years’ experience of changing lives, building stronger communities and reducing crime. Nacro helps around 32,000 people each year and is also a leading registered social landlord and charity that has experience in housing women who have left prison without a home to go to.
YEAR FOUNDED: 1966
LOCATION: Nationwide
PARTNERSHIP DATE: December 2020
FUND PARTNERSHIP: Women in Safe Homes fund
PARTNERSHIP PURPOSE: To enable Nacro to house women leaving the criminal justice system without accommodation to go to, in decent and affordable housing and, alongside a home of their own, to provide them with specialist support services.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS:
ABOUT: Nacro’s main aim is to “ensure that disadvantaged young people and adults reach their full potential in life.” Housing is fundamental to their mission. It creates stability which means that their tenants are able to achieve their goals in other areas of their lives. Nacro also provides criminal record support, a substance misuse service and education and learning services such as apprenticeships, training and courses.
Another key focus is their goal to help people who have been released from prison reintegrate back into society and reduce reoffending. This includes women who have left the criminal justice system without a home to go to. Often driven by personal relationships and generally associated with experiences of trauma, exploitation and violence, women’s pathways into offending, the impact of custody upon them, their resettlement needs and their reoffending patterns differ from those of men.
PURPOSE OF PARTNERSHIP: By partnering with the Women in Safe Homes fund Nacro is able to provide women leaving the criminal justice system with a safe, decent and stable home where, with specialist support, they can turn their lives around.
Nacro’s requirement for housing from the Women in Safe Homes fund is for two and three-bedroom properties to each house two to three women, as shared housing. Once the fund has bought, refurbished and handed a property over to Nacro, the housing team there furnish the property ensuring its homeliness for the women who will live there.
Shared housing is an important aspect of Nacro’s housing requirements: the homes provide women with a stable base, Nacro provides support to women through its resettling services, and by sharing a home, women living together are also providing support to each other, aiding their rehabilitation, social inclusion and chances of positive outcomes.
Properties, including two-bedroom shared homes in England are being purchased and refurbished to house women. Once housed, Nacro provide women with specialist, bespoke support to enable them to make positive choices in their lives and to start to create future plans for themselves.
The Women in Safe Homes fund:
Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of Nacro: “Too often women leave prison ready to turn their lives around but without the resources and support to be able to do it we are setting them up to fail. Having a safe, secure place to live is the base line of being able to change their lives for the better, enabling them to get a job, rebuild family ties and escape unhealthy relationships. This fund will give us the opportunity to support more women coming out of prison, reduce the risk of reoffending and give them the best chance at a second chance.”
Claire*, a tenant: “Nacro helped me to move from the refuge into Nacro housing which gave me more independence. Terri, my support worker from Nacro, has been my rock. She got me on to an English and maths course at Nacro education and I also did a youth work course. I want to use my own experience to do outreach work and help children in domestic violence situations. I want my kids to grow up to be strong, independent women and proud of me as a mother. Nacro has totally changed my life.”
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