British Benevolent Fund: Aiding women suffering domestic abuse

The British Benevolent Fund is the charity of last resort – it provides financial assistance to those Britons in Spain in dire straits and who have no other recourse.

We deal with the worst that life can throw – and try with the aid of volunteers to find a solution.

Domestic abuse continues to be a major driver of our cases with women, many in long term relationships taking the step to leave abusive and damaging environments.

One such case involved Anne, a married British lady with four children – one day she walked into a police station in her hometown near Malaga and filed a report against her husband of a decade for repeated domestic abuse including multiple physical assaults and rape stretching back many years.

She had endured enough – which she had done for the sake of keeping the family together – on the day she went to the police the husband had attacked one of the kids – that was it.

Anne had no money, and no family member could help but she was determined to protect the children.

The police took action as well as alerting social services who in turn alerted the British consulate.

Together with the town hall the lady and her children were provided emergency accommodation as well as offer of a longer term protected tenancy apartment.

The BBF was able to help pay for her moving expenses and ensure that utilities were connected and paid for the first three months in addition to paying for some white goods and children’s items. It was enough to give her a new fresh start in a safe environment for her children.

Anne was one of over 30,000 victims of domestic abuse in Spain – we are only able to support her and women in similar situations with your support and donations. Every penny makes a difference. If you would like to support our work with a donation please visit our website or contact me olaf.clayton@britishbenevolentfund.org

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