PCC visits homelessness and custody support services in BaNES

Police and crime Commissioner (PCC) Clare Moody spent last Friday (10th January 2025) in Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES) hearing from a charity at the forefront of supporting people at risk of, or experiencing homelessness, meeting Bath’s MP Wera Hobhouse and seeing firsthand the work of a service, which provides advice and crisis support to people who are detained in custody at Keynsham’s custody centre.

Clare is committed to visit and hear from as many communities and services as possible across Avon and Somerset, so she is aware of any pressing policing issues facing communities, and the proactive measures being taken to address them.

Clare started the day meeting with Wera Hobhouse MP, where they discussed several issues, including Male Violence Against Woman and Girls (MVAWG), domestic abuse, child sexual exploitation and the principles to Domestic Violence investigations.

Commenting after meeting with MP Hobhouse, Clare Moody, said: “When it comes to the priorities for my time as PCC, like violence against women and girls, it is clear we cannot simply arrest our way out of them. Of course, the police are fundamental to providing protection to women and girls and arresting perpetrators, but many voluntary sector organisations and agencies provide vital support too.”

Following this, Clare had the opportunity to visit Julian House, a charity that supports vulnerable and at-risk individuals. These include adults and young people experiencing homelessness, escaping domestic abuse, adults with learning difficulties, people who need support after leaving prison and refugees striving to build a new life in a safer place.

Highlighting their work supporting people experiencing social exclusion in the South West of England, Chief Executive of Julian House Helen Bedser said: “Our clients have multiple, complex needs. Childhood trauma, mental health issues, domestic violence, addiction, modern slavery- or a combination of these things – can isolate people from their loved ones and leave them in a downward spiral, from which it feels impossible to recover.”

The Charity’s Impact report for 2023-24 show that they have supported about 2,300 vulnerable people to begin their journey to independence and security. Their Refugee project in South Gloucestershire currently support 400 people. However, Helen expressed concern that the withdrawal of funding has caused the closure of the prison re-settlement project. This will mean a loss of 65 placements for prison leavers.

Clare said: “Julian House offers a safe haven and support for women escaping domestic abuse, as well as providing shelter for homeless people and a path leading away from reoffending for those leaving prison.

“All of this is delivered because of the impressive dedication of the professionals that work for the organisation, and it was a pleasure to meet with them and to learn from them.”

Clare ended the day by visiting the Advice, Support, Custody and Courts (ASCC) service delivered at Keynsham Custody, which is currently delivered by Avon and Wiltshire mental Health Partnership (AWP), supported by Somerset Mental Health Partnership and the Nelson Trust.

The key objective of the service is to improve overall health outcomes for people and to support in the reduction of re-offending. Each month, ASCC positively engages and assesses around 150-200 (around 20 per cent of detainees) individuals in custody, and provides either advice, signposts to support, onward referral, peer support or sometimes crisis intervention.

Clare said: “It is essential to break the cycle of people reoffending, the team are doing some extraordinary work to provide pathways for people in custody, for example providing specialist work with veterans and with women.

“This work also involves peer mentoring, with people who have shown inspiring resilience to turn their lives around and who are helping others to do the same.

The professionalism and the care that I saw on Friday is not unique across Avon and Somerset but it is no less impressive for that.”