Domestic abuse charity Vida Sheffield warns it needs ‘proper funding’ or it’ll go bust

Members of Sheffield City Council heard from Vida Sheffield, an independent domestic abuse charity that says it saves the NHS £50,000 a month, after a petition to ensure it has support to deliver services received more than 27,000 signatures.

When asked what she expected prior to the meeting, chief executive Karen Hague told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that they have the support “on paper” from councillors and MPs but they need funding year on year.

She said: “We’re looking for about £80k to just take us to March (2025) – our overall fundraising target is £240k every year.”

Ms Hague added the charity had calculated, as of today, that it had money until the end of November.

At the meeting, Ms Hague said 64 per cent of the service users told the charity they felt suicidal when they first joined their programme.

She added that women tell them “Vida did save their lives”.

She said they see between 170 to 200 clients a year and they support another 50 through an online forum – she added it costs £1,000 a woman for one-to-one therapy.

“It represents a massive saving for the public purse,” Ms Hague said.

Service user Becks Batley also told the meeting she was “bounced around” between statutory services and she couldn’t access vital services.

She told members that she has been dealing with the long-term effects of sexual abuse all her life but she wasn’t taken seriously.

She said she was self-harming, she had an eating disorder but she still didn’t get access to services because she didn’t meet the criteria – she wasn’t thin enough, she wasn’t unwell enough.

Ms Batley said: “It was only when I got to Vida’s doors that I was offered some tangible help that made a difference in my life.”

In response, Cllr Angela Argenzio, the chair of the adult health and social care policy committee, said they believed if Vida were to close, this would increase the burden on other mental health and purpose services in the city.

She added Vida closing would mean fewer places available overall.

However, she also had to acknowledge the council’s financial situation.

Cllr Argenzio said: “Any additional funding we did provide needs to be taken from an existing budget commitment.”

She added that while they cannot provide the charity with the cash it needs at the moment, they will be able to support Vida by developing a business plan and talking to the partners and colleagues in the NHS.

Also, they will write to the new health secretary Wes Streeting “to stress the importance of dedicated resources for counselling and therapy services for women and girls affected by domestic and sexual abuse”.

After the meeting, Ms Hague told the LDRS that it was “good to feel being listened to by the members of the council”.

She, however, admitted that she was disappointed as “it would be lovely to know that we can continue planning our services accordingly with a core amount of money”.

But, she added they felt the positive outcome in terms of how people will work, collaborate and support Vida, and they will all share the information that Vida won’t exist after November if they don’t get the cash.

She said: “I’m feeling more confident that that will come in time but who knows…”

More information on Vida and its services can be found on its website.

When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at [email protected], or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.