New accommodation to support homeless women in York, charity says
"We see a lot that women can be adversely affected by various issues from women's health, child removal, sexual exploitation, stigma," she said."Particularly in York, we see women leaving the criminal justice system and finding safe accommodation to move on to and not returning to old lifestyles can be problematic."She added that there was a "huge demand nationally" for gender specific accommodation.
The properties are closely linked with the charity's existing women's wellness centre in York, enabling residents to access a GP running a women's clinic, therapeutic groups, recovery services and advice on benefits and tenancies."In mainstream services where there's mixed genders, women are often expected to attend to get the support they need, but within that, they end up bumping into old acquaintances and often the perpetrators of abuse," she said.The service has been designed in collaboration with women who have used similar facilities.Ms Sunter said it aimed to work with women to help them "find ways forward" and was not about making them "repeat their story" or judging them on it."It's about empowering the women as well, so not necessarily making decisions for people, but empowering them to make the best decision for them."Referrals to the accommodation can be made through City of York Council, the probation service, or individual women aged 18 or over who find themselves homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
3 minutes ago
- The Sun
Full list of DWP benefit errors that can lead to refunds worth £1,000s – including PIP and state pension
HOUSEHOLDS should be aware of these benefit errors that can lead to refunds worth £1,000's. If the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) underpays you on a benefit you could be entitled to the money you are owed back. 1 Vice versa, if you are over paid on a benefit you will need to give the money back or it could result in legal action. This is the case even if you didn't notice and have spent it already. Currently, claimants could be entitled to back payments on a number of benefits including the State Pension and Personal Independence Payments (PIP). We explain who have been impacted below. State Pension error If you took time away from paid work to look after a child or someone with an illness, you could be owed money back. The issue mainly impacts those carrying out caring duties between 1978 and 2010. During this time, the government had a system in place to ensure people would still be paid the state pension if they took time out for these reasons. This system was called Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) and it should have been automatically awarded to those claiming Child Benefit. But an error in the system found that hundreds of thousands of people were left with gaps in their National Insurance records that should not be there. Disability benefit explained - what you can claim Those impacted have been underpaid on their state pension or could be in the future. But the government has said that all issues related to the error should be resolved by March 2027. How to claim You might have received a letter if you are thought to be affected. People can check their eligibility for backdated HRP and make a claim via HMRC said the process takes around 15 minutes. According to MoneySavingExpert, the average amount being paid out is more than £7,000. PIP Benefit claimants could be owed cash from the government after a PIP payment error. What are state pension errors? STEVE Webb, partner at LCP and former Pensions Minister, explains what state pension errors are and how they can occur: The way state pensions are worked out is so complicated that many thousands of people have been paid the wrong amount for years without even realising it. The amount of retirement pension you get usually depends on your National Insurance (NI) record. One big source of errors has been cases where NI records have been incorrect, particularly for years spent at home with children. This is a system known as 'Home Responsibilities Protection'. Alternatively, particularly for older pensioners, the amount you get can depend on the NI contributions made by your spouse. Errors have arisen where the Government has failed to adjust the pensions of married women when their husbands retired or failed to increase pensions when someone was bereaved and lost a husband or wife. Although the Government has spent years trying to fix these problems, there are still many thousands of people – many of them older women – on the wrong pension. If you have always thought that your pension seems low, then it is worth contacting the Pensions Service to ask them to check, especially if you spent time at home raising children or if you were widowed and your pension didn't change when your spouse died A review was launched following a Supreme Court judgment in July 2019 that changed the way the DWP defines 'social support' in one of the assessed PIP categories. Dubbed the "MM judgement", the DWP realised that hundreds of thousands could now be due additional support. It means that people may not have been given one of the two elements of PIP when they were actually entitled to it. Others may have been awarded the standard rate but should have received the enhanced rate, which is a higher amount. It occurred after some people were given one of the two elements of PIP when they were actually entitled to it. The DWP launched a review in 2021, looking at cases since 2016. How to claim An estimated 633,338 households are thought to be have been affected by the error. The average payout works out at around £5,285 per claim, but you could get more or less. One couple told The Sun they were left shell-shocked" after learning that they were due £12,000 in back payments. The DWP tends to get in contact directly with claimants thought to be impacted. New PIP error The DWP has flagged two more errors relating to the benefits claim. That includes PIP claimants without a National Insurance number not having their claims processed correctly, even though it is not needed to make a claim. Up to £500,000 has been paid out to those impacted. Elsewhere, The DWP has also paid out £13million to Scottish PIP claimants who mistakenly saw a "loss of entitlement" when they tried moving over to the Adult Disability Payment (ADP). How do I appeal a PIP decision? If you've been contacted by the DWP or think you are affected by the MM judgement, you'll need to appeal your PIP decision. If you think a PIP decision was wrong, you can challenge it. If you've been contacted by the DWP or think your PIP payments may be affected by the MM judgment, you should ask for a "mandatory reconsideration notice". This is where the DWP looks at your claim decision again. If you are still unhappy with this outcome, you can then appeal to an independent tribunal. You must send your appeal form within one month of the date shown on the mandatory reconsideration notice. Be aware that it usually takes up to six months for an appeal to be heard by the tribunal. Before it gets to the tribunal, the DWP can make a revision to the original claim. If you're unhappy with the decision you get from the tribunal, you may also be able to get the decision cancelled - known as "set aside". You'll be told how to do this at the time. Another option is to appeal to the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) if you think the tribunal wasn't able to give you proper reasons for its decision, or back up the decision with facts, or if it failed to apply the law properly. Full details about challenging your PIP decisions can be found on
BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Spaxton village community assemble to mend vandalised scarecrows
A community has come together after local children were left "absolutely gutted" when their village scarecrow parade was damaged by vandals. The display in Spaxton, Somerset was part of their flower show celebrations with members of the community including school children making Bond who lives in the village helped her daughters make a scarecrow and said: "It's unbelievable that this could happen in Spaxton, it's very sad".Organisers told BBC Radio Somerset a working group had been out fixing the scarecrows to get them back into a "reasonable shape". Natasha Bond built a scarecrow with her daughters, and said they were "absolutely gutted, as were all the other children in the village". She added: "It was the last day of school, they had to go past those scarecrows in the morning, there were a lot of tears".Vicky Hemming, one of the organisers of the flower show and scarecrow parade, said there has been a "huge upwelling of feeling" about it in the village. Ms Hemming added that a working party had been sent out to fix the scarecrows and were able to restore all but one of flower show was set run as normal this weekend.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Cumbria river project is Thiess International awards finalist
A river restoration project has been named as a finalist for a prestigious international Cumbrian River Restoration Partnership Programme has been shortlisted for the Thiess International River Prize Awards for its work on almost 100km (62 miles) of rivers and 150 hectares (370 acres) of floodplain in the by the Environment Agency (EA), it has undertaken more than 100 separate projects including reintroducing meanders, removing weirs and planting trees across the catchments of the Rivers Eden, Derwent and goes up against projects on the Chicago and Klamath rivers in the United States, and the Vjosa River in Albania, with the winner announced in September. Over centuries, the rivers of the Lake District have been modified or altered to create space for upland farming and intensive dairy a result, the area had seen flooding and a decline in biodiversity, which the programme has worked to reverse. How restoring rivers' natural curves can prevent flooding The Thiess International River Prize, awarded by the International River Foundation since 1999, was the world's most esteemed prize for river restoration, the EA winners include the James River Association in the US, which won in 2019 for its work to restore Virginia's largest year's winner will be announced at a ceremony in Brisbane, River Restoration Programme manager Olly Southgate said the nomination was a "huge honour". Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
