Building safer futures: Our Annual Report 2026

Our 2025 – 2026 Annual Report: How together we’re helping survivors move from fear to freedom.

Refuge exists because domestic abuse remains one of the most widespread, dangerous and enduring forms of harm in our society. 1 in 4 women will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime and one woman is killed every 5 days by an abusive partner or ex.  

Our latest annual report highlights our incredible impact over the previous year, and our hopes for the future. Together, we’re helping survivors move from fear to freedom. 

Looking back: 

This past year has been both challenging and significant for Refuge. We continue to see the devastating impact of cost-of-living pressures, housing shortages and wider system inequalities, as well as the challenges survivors face in the family justice system.  

At the same time, it is now increasingly rare for us to support a survivor who is not experiencing some form of digital abuse. We recorded a staggering 78% rise in referrals for cases of technology-facilitated abuse and economic abuse.  

We must address how the wider environment has become more difficult for many of the people who turn to Refuge, particularly migrant survivors, global majority survivors and LGBTQIA+ survivors. While demand for specialist support continues to grow, resources remain stretched and too many survivors are struggling to get the help they need.  

Despite these challenges, Refuge has continued to show extraordinary resilience and determination. No matter what pressures exist around us, survivors remain at the centre of every decision we make.  

Looking Ahead:  

The year ahead will be an important one for Refuge as we implement our new organisational strategy that sets a clear and ambitious direction for Refuge’s future. Our priority is strengthening Refuge so that we can continue to be there for survivors not only today, but in many years to come.  

Our new 5 strategic priorities are:  

1. Delivering high-quality, safe survivor services
2. Achieving financial sustainability and growth
3. Strengthening people, culture and survivor leadership  
4. Building evidence, learning and impact  
5. Driving prevention, policy and systems change 

Together, we can create lasting change.  

Your Impact:  

This year, our incredible community of supporters once again stood alongside survivors. Women and children who have turned to Refuge at some of the most frightening moments of their lives can find safety, specialist support and hope because of the extraordinary generosity of our supporters.  

Fundraising: 

13,017 people gave regularly, which provided dependable income that helps Refuge support survivors every day of the year.  

6,446 supporters raised £1,115,091 through fundraising events.  

Our Christmas Appeal surpassed its target by 37% and 695 supporters committed to a regular gift.  

This year’s work was split across 5 key priorities:  

Priority 1:  Provide emergency specialist accommodation, community based and specialist support services:  

A major focus this year was securing the long-term future of essential frontline services. Despite unprecedented pressure on services, we ensured more survivors could access specialist safe and effective support.  

96% of survivors leaving our support were no longer living in fear and 94% reported an improved quality of life.  

At The Gaia Centre in Lambeth, Refuge saw the highest number of referrals in its history. By bringing services into trusted community settings and strengthening referral pathways, Gaia helped reduce isolation, increase awareness of the available support, and ensured more survivors received the right help at the right time.  

This year at The Gaia Centre… 

• 2,242 survivors supported 

• Partnerships expanded across more than 20 organisations 

• More than 1000 professionals reached through training and awareness activity 

Priority 2: Deliver high-quality services and set quality standards for domestic abuse services  

We have undertaken critical work to not only improve the services we directly deliver but also to strengthen the wider domestic abuse sector by promoting models that prioritise safety, accessibility, long-term stability and independence.  

We secured a place on the NHS England Social Impact Framework, which recognises our expertise and positions us in a broader system focusing increasingly on prevention rather than crisis response.  

We invested in strengthening our systems with funding support from Comic Relief for a finance system and separately, began a phased introduction of a housing management system and modernisation of a case management system.  

Our second Tech-Safety Summit was delivered, aimed at driving innovation and practical solutions across sectors.  

Enabled by funding from our corporate partner Skipton Building Society, staff sessional workers and volunteers began receiving specialist training in recognising and referring support for economic abuse.  

Our live chat expanded its hours to include weekends (10-6pm) where 8,018 survivors were supported and the chatbot feature was accessed 144,272 times.  

62 trained volunteers worked alongside helpline staff, contributing an incredible 3,533 hours this year.  

Priority 3:  Drive policy change to ensure sustainability of domestic abuse services:  

We worked closely with Ofcom, building on our successful campaign influencing the Online Safety Act, to develop guidance for technology companies on preventing and addressing online abuse.  

We worked extensively to shape the governments VAWG strategy following the election commitment to half VAWG over the next decade. When published, the strategy reflected a number of Refuge’s priorities, and we continue to work to shape its implementation ensuring the commitment translates into meaningful change for survivors.  

We played an important role in shaping the Sentencing Bill (now the Sentencing Act) making the case for a specific exemption for domestic abuse perpetrators. The government accepted this and wrote it into the Act which shows recognition that efforts to reform the criminal justice system should never come at the expense of survivor safety. 

Priority 4:  Prevent violence against women and girls through awareness raising and changing harmful and pervasive societal attitudes: 

For 2026 International Women’s Day we launched Home is Where the Hurt Is, a campaign designed to show how domestic abuse is often hidden in plain sight. The short film was accompanied by national digital billboards, press coverage, broadcast interviews and a public display outside parliament. More than 7,000 people signed the open letter and over 1,500 people signed up to support Refuge.  

This Red Nose Day, actors Adjoa Andoh, Helen George and Suranne Jones read the anonymised works of survivors supported by Refuge, shining a light on the realities of abuse.  

Three survivors shared their stories with support from Refuge, to shine a light on the intersectional experiences of domestic abuse. By amplifying these voices, Refuge challenged the stigma, deepened understanding, influenced change and ensured more inclusive support for all survivors.  

Priority 5:  Build partnerships to share and grow our expertise and expand out impact:  

Our Pan-London Floating Support Service, Gaia Centre and Hertfordshire county-wide VAWG services all delivered partnerships to ensure survivors can access more coordinated, specialist support, particularly for those with complex or intersecting needs.  

Developed with the UK Trauma Council, The Children Activity Time Programme was developed and has been rolled out across all of our Refuge, with 26 children’s support workers trained to deliver therapeutic support. We also continued our Families Stories programme providing support to children and their safe parents.  

We partnered with Omaze in the Omaze Million Pound House Draw, bringing in £4,500,000 for survivors and their children escaping domestic abuse. These funds will enable us to provide over 10 safe homes, allowing us to support those who are unable to access traditional refuge accommodation such as large families, older children, trans or non-binary survivors, survivors with disabilities or much-loved family pets.  

Thank you to all our supporters 

Thank you all for being a part of our vision, a future free from gender-based violence.  

Every day, survivors come to Refuge seeking safety, dignity and the chance to live free from fear. We meet them with services that are safe, specialist and effective, and we stand unequivocally on their side. Together we’re helping survivors move from fear to freedom.