Sahara Black Women's Refuge Project

Schemes: Sahara
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Sahara is an emergency tier refuge that offers safe supported accommodation to black women with children, single black women and white women with black children, all of whom are experiencing or fleeing domestic violence.

Accommodation

Accommodation at Sahara consists of a seven bedded hostel, four self-contained family flats and dispersed accommodation in the community. All accommodation is furnished to a standard suitable for families.

Outreach

The outreach worker runs outreach surgeries in the community as well as offering support to women living outside the refuge in their own homes. We also offer support services to women who have moved on from the refuge for up to six months.

Support Services

We offer the following:
• Safe and secure furnished accommodation to women over the age of 16
• An opportunity to discuss issues in confidentiality
• Support package tailored to the individual needs of the women and their children
• Dedicated keyworker support
• Translation services for women whose first language is not English
• Out of hours emergency services
• A childrens worker
• A therapist to work with both mother and children
• A play room
• A worker on duty week days to deal with any phone queries

Conditions of Occupancy

All service users become Licensees of their accommodation for a maximum of 6 months. They are supported and encouraged to move on to a safe and suitable home once they are ready and confident to do so.
Confidentiality is essential to the success and survival of this service. Women who are housed are expected to ensure that the location of Sahara remains confidential.

Staff and Management

The team consists of three Project Workers and a Team Leader. The Team Leader reports to a Service Manager who can be contacted on (0113) 276 0160.

Staff are available 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday. Sahara can be contacted on (0113) 230 5087.

Management & Organisation

The Service Manager has overall responsibility for the project, and can be contacted at the Organisation’s Central Office:

Tel: (0113) 276 0616 E-mail: sbwr@leedshc.org.uk

Referrals

Referrals can be made by a number of support agencies through direct contact or out of hours phone service. These agencies include Samaritans, Social Services, the Police, Education Services, health visitors, other refuges, and self-referrals. All referrals are assessed, and suitable services are offered as soon as is practical. All referrals, assessments, and risk assessments are monitored by the Team Leader and reviewed by the Service Manager on a regular basis to ensure that eligibility criteria are being met.

Appeals

Where a referral request has been refused and the applicant or their referrer is not satisfied with the reasons given, they have the right to appeal the decision. Appeals should be made within 10 working days of receipt of the written decision using the accompanying appeals form. Once received an appeals meeting will be arranged within 5 working days chaired by a Service Manager at which the applicant and their referrer have the opportunity to state why they disagreed with the decision. An appeal decision will then be made within 3 working days.