Severn Angels Housing & Support provides critical assistance to women facing some of life’s most fragile moments, including fleeing domestic abuse, recovering from homelessness, or living with no recourse to public funds. With the support of the Charles Plater Trust, the organisation has strengthened its culturally competent, trauma-informed care, transforming not just services but the lives of the women it supports.
Built by women for women, Severn Angels is one of the few grassroots organisations in Worcestershire offering women-only, culturally responsive supported housing. Over the past year, it has housed 43 women in its 19-bed facility and reached an additional 134 women through outreach and advice services.
A key lesson learned is that transformation begins with trust. Many women arrive after experiences with services that failed to listen, and trust is often built in small, meaningful moments rather than formal sessions. Simple acts, such as culturally familiar food parcels, a warm welcome, or a volunteer sharing the woman’s language or background, have proven transformative. Employing two culturally competent support workers with the Charles Plater grant allowed women to feel truly seen, resulting in higher engagement with peer workshops, more disclosures of abuse, and greater uptake of external referrals.
The organisation’s Cultural and Accommodating Food Programme emerged organically from this approach, delivering over 700 food parcels reflecting the cultural backgrounds of the women supported. Many women report that the culturally familiar food helped restore a sense of normalcy and dignity in their lives.
Severn Angels also identified areas for improvement, including embedding peer mentoring from the start. Women who have moved on and returned to support others provide calm, familiar, and non-judgmental guidance that is more effective than formal training alone. The organisation has also simplified assessment tools, moving from clinical forms to conversational approaches that better build trust. Additionally, having a small emergency fund for crisis therapy would allow quicker responses to complex trauma cases.
Stories like that of Priya*, a South Asian woman who fled a coercive marriage, illustrate the impact of the programme. Through one-to-one support, weekly food parcels, and peer wellbeing sessions, Priya gradually regained her confidence and is now preparing to co-facilitate her first peer support session. She credits the combination of small, thoughtful acts for helping her rebuild her life.
Severn Angels emphasizes that relationship-building must come first, with paperwork and formal processes secondary. When services are grounded in culture, trust, and respect, women begin to believe in themselves again, paving the way for genuine transformation. The support from the Charles Plater Trust has been instrumental in helping the organisation extend beyond housing to foster hope, dignity, and belonging.
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