Thank you for your interest in joining Refuge as CEO. We are thrilled that you’ve taken the time to read this site and look at what we do, with a view to considering joining us.
In England and Wales, 1 in 4 women will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lifetime, and on average in England and Wales two women a week are killed by a current or former partner. This epidemic of violence against women and girls must stop. Women must stop being killed – those who have been tasked to protect them are failing to do so. Refuge however seeks to protect the victims of domestic abuse and through providing services and transformative awareness raising and education seeks to prevent domestic abuse from happening in the first place. Refuge stands together with survivors and partners to effect real change.
As an organisation, we have been through a significant change journey over the last 4 years. Our external environment has been challenging. Starting with COVID which had a devastating impact on women and children living with abuse – we saw an increase in demand for our services that was unprecedented. With this the level of public awareness of domestic abuse substantially increased and has largely persisted. The pandemic was closely followed by a cost of living crisis which has resulted in the ‘perfect storm’ for Refuge – increased costs, more pressure on household income affecting fundraising and budgetary challenges for local authorities. This in turn has a direct effect on the available income to fund our services on the one hand and at a time when the increase in the cost of living crisis is also affecting those that need our support contributing to an increase in demand for our services.
Whilst this external ‘juggling act’ has been taking place, Refuge has also been transforming – from our governance arrangements to the provision of clinical supervision for all of our staff and much more. At its heart, our focus has been on the following key three areas:
- ensuring we provide women and children with the support they deserve every single day
- building an inclusive, diverse and empowering culture
- working in partnership across the sector with the belief that together we can achieve so much more and bring an end to domestic abuse at an earlier stage.
We have had great results so far and I am proud that, whilst there is still more to do, we have made great strides across all three areas. Every single day I am inspired by the skill, dedication, creativity and determination of the entire Refuge team.
Leading and embedding change of this nature in a compassionate way is not easy. It needs inspiring authentic leadership, it needs resilience, it needs a natural communicator who understands and demonstrates the importance of collaboration and partnership, and it needs kindness. It also needs a fierce and unwavering belief in doing the right thing and putting survivors at the heart of the organisation. Our new CEO will also lead the development of our new strategy, as we come to the end of our 3 year plan later this year. With so much changing in the external environment, the possibilities seem endless, and the rewards are immeasurable.
As we shore our organisation up for a sustainable future, we need a CEO that will, with her team and support of the Board, identify the paths that will take us there and keep us there. If what I have described excites you and you feel you can bring to Refuge the leadership that we need, then we would love to hear from you.
Hetti Bankworth-Nanton
Chair