Pride and sadness as domestic abuse charity closes

The boss of a domestic abuse charity which has been forced to close due to a funding crisis has said she was "bereft" but proud of its work over more than 30 years.

Vida, in Sheffield, had been supporting victims in the city since starting up in the mid-1990s as the Sheffield Domestic Violence Forum.

The charity, which in its final years employed six part-time staff as well as volunteers, had about 200 referrals a year and was supporting 60 women at the time of its closure in the summer.

Karen Hague, Vida's chief executive, said the closure, which was announced in June, had been "hard to process" due to the administrative tasks surrounding its winding up.

The charity, which needed about £250,000 a year to operate, had sought a fresh source of funding after failing to gain new National Lottery cash following an award last year.

Sheffield City Council had previously been asked to fund the charity's work, but the authority said it could not do so, though resources to support women were invested in a range of organisations.

Hague told BBC Radio Sheffield: "The sense now - when you walk into an empty office which doesn't have all of that equipment in and the positive statements on the wall - I feel very bereft.

"I was, like, what was it all for?

"But then I take a moment and I think, actually all those women that have been supported for decades, over 30 years now with Vida, that's why it's worth it."

Hague said she was concerned other charities faced a similar predicament to Vida due to stretched finances.

"You can't bring them back, you know. Once they've gone, they're gone," she said.

"You can bring them back from the edge, but once they've gone that's it - all that expertise, that knowledge and that credibility.

"We worked hard to get British Association for Counselling and Therapy accredited approval. An amazing reputation over 30 years has just gone like that."

Among testimonies left by survivors on Vida's website was a post which simply said, "thank you for saving my life", while another said the charity had "helped me through so much where other services failed".

A further testimony was from someone who described themselves as a "supporter", who said the charity had previously helped their partner, but "now you're going, she will be lost - but she has tools to help herself".

Another survivor posted: "Shoulders of giants where I didn't have the strength to keep going and wanted to disappear, thank you, never forget your impact."

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