The ‘Revive Scotland’ service is a partnership between Wheatley Group and Homefinder UK.
The project rehouses women and children experiencing homelessness due to domestic abuse to an area of their choice outside their own local authority area.
In Scotland, there were nearly 63,000 incidents of domestic abuse recorded by police last year.
Laura Henderson, from Wheatley Group, said: “Domestic abuse remains a major cause of women’s homelessness in Scotland. It is the third most common reason given on a homelessness application.
“Many women who have survived domestic abuse look for a fresh start in a different part of the country. It might be that they want to be closer to family, or to a new job, or a school for their children, outside their current local authority area. Revive Scotland can help arrange this.”
Revive is being funded by the Scottish Government. It has been running in England since 2018 and has already helped over 120 domestic abuse survivors.
Andrea Williams, Revive Scotland project coordinator, said: “We are building on the success achieved by Revive in England. Our goal is to provide a holistic approach to support women experiencing domestic abuse. Through Revive Scotland, we want to give choice to those women who decide they would like to move out of their current area.
“We will work directly with the women and their families to provide a tailored wraparound support. We’ll liaise with all agencies involved to ensure further support is provided, to ensure a smooth transition to a new home and that the tenancy is sustained. We have contacted several local authority areas, housing associations and domestic abuse organisations, and the support we received so far have been overwhelmingly positive.”
To find out more, go to www.homefinderuk.org/revive-scotland. Referrals can also be made via agencies including Women’s Aid, Police Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway Council.
