Osprey Housing Group has signed up to a UK-wide multi agency pledge to help combat domestic abuse. The Make a Stand campaign has been developed by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) in partnership with Women’s Aid and the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance. Its aim is to encourage housing organisations to make a commitment to support people experiencing domestic abuse.

Osprey’s Governing Body has now ratified the decision to commit to the four key components of the pledge, namely: to embed a policy to support tenants affected by domestic abuse; to ensure local and national support services are widely publicised to tenants and staff; to put in place a suitable HR policy to support members of staff experiencing domestic abuse and to appoint an in-house champion at a senior level to oversee the project.

Osprey Chief Executive, Glenn Adcook, said: “This is an important issue as the true scale of the problem is difficult to gauge, so many cases of domestic abuse go unreported.

“The Make a Stand pledge is a way for housing organisations to support tenants who may be experiencing problems and we are delighted to commit to this initiative.”

Housing Services Manager, Stacy Angus, has been appointed as Osprey’s staff champion for the initiative. She said: “The home should provide a safe and secure environment, but sadly for some this is not the case. As housing professionals out in the community we want to ensure our staff are equipped and committed to supporting those in this situation”.

“We are rolling out a programme of training for all staff to raise awareness and embed a pro-active culture towards dealing with Domestic Abuse. A new HR policy has also been approved by our Governing Body to align the support offered to tenants is also available to staff.”

Osprey’s involvement has been welcomed by Callum Chomczuk, National Director of CIH Scotland: “I am really pleased that Osprey Housing has signed up to our Make a Stand campaign. Every year there are almost 60,000 reported incidents of domestic abuse in Scotland and we know that domestic abuse is one of the main causes of homelessness amongst women.

"This campaign gives all housing organisations the chance to sign up to four key commitments which could make a real difference to tenants experiencing domestic abuse. Victims of domestic abuse - like all of us - rely on housing and the housing sector, including this commitment from Osprey, can help to ensure that tenants are able to live their lives free from fear and abuse.”

The latest Scottish Government figures for Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray show over 4,700 recorded incidents of domestic abuse in 2016/17.

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