Norbury domestic violence charity seeks help after losing home

A domestic violence charity is appealing for urgent help to find a new home after losing its south London base.

Since 2007, the Cassandra Center has provided in-person counseling, education, and support to those affected by domestic violence.

The organization was located above Lloyds Bank in Norbury until it closed in May, but has since switched to virtual sessions and been forced to pay high rent for office space and storage for furniture and donations. .

Croydon Council offers a wide range of options to charities and says it “will continue to support them”.

Founder Jennifer McDermott founded the Cassandra Center in 2007 after her daughter Cassandra was murdered by her ex-boyfriend.

She and her team are doing their best to help people in London, but rising costs have made it difficult to stay open, and they’ve even had to hold customer meetings at local coffee shops. She explained that there was.

Of her previous base, she told the BBC: “We had therapy rooms, conference rooms, training rooms and a library.

“In fact, the women called that space ‘home’ because it was set up that way to accommodate them. It was a safe place.

“We’re talking about vulnerable women here and it’s not okay for them to come into public spaces and tell their stories.

“We travel across Croydon and other places just to meet them and give them respect and safety.”

The charity must pay £200 a month in storage costs to keep valuable donations such as clothes, books and customer baskets safe and dry.

“Almost a year has passed, and basically [we’re] On the street,” McDermott added.

“I thought something would happen if we had a council, but nothing happened.”

Team member Sophie Jones said: “Even though we don’t have a base or a home, we still receive a lot of referrals every day.

“We can’t afford to borrow, we can’t get core funding.”

There were 4,372 domestic violence crimes reported in Croydon in 2019, an increase of 605 to 4,977 in 2023.

Croydon is a large and densely populated borough, but even when analyzing data per 100,000 people, the area remains the borough with the sixth highest number of domestic violence crimes in London.

Domestic violence crimes have also increased more broadly in London, with the number of crimes in the capital increasing by 7,282 between 2019 and 2023, from 89,486 to 96,768.

A spokesperson for Croydon Council said that since the charity had to leave its previous space, “we have been working to broker opportunities for the charity to find more permanent accommodation, but we have been working hard to broker opportunities for the charity to find more permanent accommodation, but we have been unable to assist domestic violence victims.” The nature of Cassandra Center’s activities against victims and the need for privacy for victims makes it more difficult for their clients to find suitable options.”

“The council has a limited portfolio of assets and receives significant interest from hundreds of charities and other space-related voluntary organizations,” they said.

The spokesperson went on to say that the council would offer charities “free use of interview and confidential space within the Family Justice Service to meet with clients” and “discounted use of some spaces in local libraries. It said it had presented charities with a list of possible options, including: ”.

They added that the council would “continue to assist in finding suitable accommodation”.

When London Mayor Sadiq Khan recently announced £15m of funding for domestic violence groups, he said: “Sadly, we know that domestic violence cases continue to rise and the cost of living crisis leaves many survivors with the dilemma of staying with their abusers.” Faced with uncertainty and hardship, vital support services, often operating on shoestring budgets, are under enormous pressure. ”