Christmas Thank You to all our Donors and Supporters

Christmas 2005 was a well celebrated holiday within The Haven Wolverhampton. We have been as fortunate as ever in the quantity and quality of gifts and toys that arrived for our resident children, the vast amounts enabled us to not only cater for all our resident children but to those children whose mums living in the community access the Floating Support Service. 147 children received an abundance of toys as a result of Christmas 2005 Appeal.

The Children’s Services Team made a huge contribution in providing fair distribution of the donated toys and gifts. An abundance of gifts were available for all the children and mums accessing The Haven’s services.
The arrival of Santa Claus for the children’s Christmas Party went down a treat, the trip to the Pantomime and the donations of Festive food and chocolates donated by our faithful supporters in Wolverhampton all contributed to a peaceful and Happy Christmas for all. I will be writing a special thank you to you all in the New Year

Our huge donor bank during the Christmas season became part of the cause of The Haven Wolverhampton for which we again express a sincere thank You and wish you all every best wish for 2006.

Ros Ward (Appeals and Publicity Officer)

Letter from the Chief Executive

We are approaching the end of another busy year at The Haven our Newsletter, which is issued now twice a year, will inform you that Haven Staff have been very active in delivering services to women and children. At this time of year our focus is on the children that access our refuge service and our Floating Support Service. Our Children’s Workers are key to the delivery of a quality service whilst children stay at The Haven and are committed to ensuring that every child’s needs are considered. We have new-born to 16 year olds staying at The Haven, so quite a range to accommodate. We are encouraged to see, and participate, in the strategic plans that are developing in the City in relation to children and their rights; we have also contributed to the national strategies and policies affecting children in the Court system – “NO LONGER ARE CHILDREN THE HIDDEN CLIENTS OF REFUGE SERVICES.”

In our last Newsletter we reported on a number of developments one of which is Pearl House which will accommodate eleven families; our opening date to accept referrals for this new development is the 16th January and we are delighted with result of many years effort from all Partners, Wolverhampton City Council Housing development, Supporting People Team, Focus Housing Association, Housing Corporation, Wolverhampton Domestic Violence Forum and of course, Haven Staff. Our Residential Services Manager, Michaila Tope, is busy now recruiting and training for the big day and Ros Ward, Appeals and Publicity Officer, has contributed substantially to the fundraising for furnishings and equipment etc. Thank you to all who have given so generously.

Our work in South Staffordshire continues through the input of Kath Farmer into the development of the South Staffordshire Domestic Violence Forum with The Haven holding the Contract for this development. There have been many changes and influences in relation to a strategic approach to domestic violence which will enable appropriate services to develop to meet the needs of women and children who experience Domestic Violence.

Our Support Services Manager, Caroline Mansell, continues to support and develop the areas of work at The Haven that are essential to women and children’s recovery; our Counselling Service, Children's Service, Floating Support Service, Domestic Violence Advocacy work, Volunteer Service and Training provision, as well as the essential networking that is required to raise the profile of Domestic Violence.

We have recently moved offices from our base in Chapel Ash and after being located there for six years we had outgrown the premises; our new Offices offer brighter and more modern accommodation for our Staff Team, with improved facilities to deliver our core work. Our IT Manager, Elvira Wilson, has taken us through the painful process (It felt like it to me) of installing a new Server and networking our systems. With the support of three student placements (Kristy, Renata and Priscilla) from Wolverhampton University we are upgrading our database. Our funders are requiring more and more sophisticated data and analysis from the sector and The Haven is in a position to respond with appropriate information when requested.
We face many challenges in the coming year with the purchase of a replacement building for one of our current refuges, our Economic Development Manager, Popinder Kaur, is tasked with raising the funds for the capital and refurbishment and we are delighted that the purchase and first phase are within weeks of conclusion; again our thanks to all who have supported us in this venture the ten families that will be accommodated will have the right environment with skilled Staff to support on the road to recovery

My thanks to our Chair, Gillian Atkins, all Staff, Volunteers and Board Members who have helped to steer The Haven through a changing environment.

Best wishes to you all for Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

Kath Rees
Chief Executive

I came to The Haven
I opened the door
I looked at my feet, and saw a shiny floor
I was introduced to children like me
I ran around the garden happy and free
During my time here I've done many things
Playing football and dancing with my imaginary wings
During the holidays we do much more
Like going to theme parks, panto and seashore.
Soon I'll be very happy though, eating candy foam
I'll miss the friends I've made, that's for sure.
I'll keep in touch though cause they're not a bore!!
Being with my family, we have a lot of fun
Together always in our new home
My mum made some pancakes along with some bun.
By Alfie age 9 years old.