17 January 2024 , 08:46
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Nationwide Building Society has announced that it will provide safe spaces in over 400 branches for people suffering from domestic abuse.
This initiative, launched by the charity Hestia as part of the UK Says No More campaign, allows those affected to use a private room and phone to contact support discreetly. Mandy Beech, director of retail services at Nationwide, said: "We hope that by rolling out safe spaces across over 400 of our branches and training all our branch colleagues, we are helping make a difference by giving people somewhere to go and access support safely."
Patrick Ryan, the boss of Hestia, said: "We're delighted to be partnering with Nationwide, whose support will make a real difference for victims across the UK. Staff across more than 600 branches have participated in our domestic abuse awareness training."
He emphasised the importance of accessible support, saying: "Having a safe route to access support is a lifeline for victims of domestic abuse." Explaining how they aim to provide this, he said, "That's why we launched safe spaces in everyday places like banks and pharmacies to provide a safe way to access specialist help and advice, or to call a loved one."
HSBC already has such spaces. They've found more people using them during the winter. The bank joined Hestia's safe spaces scheme in April 2022, and since then over 200 people have used a HSBC safe space.
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On average, HSBC gets two customer calls each day related to domestic or financial abuse. TSB joined the scheme in May 2021 and also offers an emergency flee fund - a payment of between £50 to £500, depending on individual needs, to help survivors of domestic abuse.
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