One of the UK’s longest-standing domestic abuse charities, MyCWA (Cheshire Without Abuse), is facing closure after nearly 50 years of providing life-saving support to vulnerable adults and children. The charity, which operates a support centre in Crewe and survivor services across Cheshire East, has confirmed that it will no longer receive funding from the council beyond April 2025.
Last year, MyCWA supported almost 4,000 individuals in Cheshire East, providing crucial services such as a 24/7 crisis helpline, emergency refuge accommodation, and trauma recovery programs for children. However, without urgent funding intervention, these services will be forced to shut down, leaving many families fleeing and recovering from abuse without vital support.
Saskia Lightburn-Ritchie, Chief Executive of MyCWA, expressed her concern over the council’s decision, stating, “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.”
The closure of MyCWA’s services also threatens the 24/7 crisis helpline, which handled over 1,000 out-of-hours emergency calls last year. The council’s own report warns against cutting funding, stating that it would increase risks and put a strain on other public services.
The charity has already faced significant funding reductions, with council support dropping from £850,000 in 2022-23 to £390,000 for the current year and soon to be £0. Lightburn-Ritchie emphasizes the critical nature of specialist support, stating, “Domestic abuse doesn’t wait for office hours.”
The council has proposed moving services in-house, but MyCWA highlights the importance of specialist support in their service provision. During the recent Christmas period, while council offices and in-house domestic abuse support were closed, MyCWA’s team supported 700 people in crisis. This highlights the crucial difference that specialist support makes in cases of domestic abuse.
The closure of MyCWA’s services is also a concern for other essential support areas, as outlined in the council’s High-Level Business Case and Equality Impact Assessment (2023-27). The report states that ending the contract with MyCWA and leaving a gap in service provision would be difficult to justify and would increase risks to the local community and strain other services.
The closure of MyCWA’s services comes at a time when domestic abuse cases are on the rise nationally. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 2.3 million adults in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2023, an increase of 200,000 from the previous year.
Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, expresses concern about the decommissioning of MyCWA’s services and urges the council to engage with them to find a solution. Survivor Abi Blake, who received life-saving support from MyCWA after suffering critical injuries from her abusive husband, emphasizes the impact of the closure, stating, “Losing these services now, when so many need them, is unthinkable.”
MyCWA has launched an emergency appeal for funding to keep their support centre and services open. Those wishing to support the charity’s work can donate to their JustGiving campaign at www.justgiving.com/campaign/savemycwa. MyCWA’s Chief Executive concludes, “Without specialist community-based intervention, we face preventable tragedies.”