Ascent Advice and Counselling Project (360G-LondonCouncils-08)

Women and Girls Network is leading the Ascent Advice and Counselling Project, which is being delivered in partnership with Ashiana Network, Asian Women's Resource Centre (AWRC), Chinese Information and Advice Centre, EACH, IMECE Women's Centre, Iranian and Kurdish Women s Rights Organisation (IKWRO), Jewish Women's Aid, Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women's Organisation, Latin American Women's Rights Service (LAWRS), Nia, Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre, Rights of Women, Solace Women's Aid, Southall Black Sisters and Women's Trust. The Ascent Advice and Counselling project aims to provide pan-London wrap-around support services for self-identified women, girls and non-binary people surviving the continuum of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) through individually tailored advice, information, casework and therapeutic services. The overall aim of the project is to enhance survivors internal and external resources, enabling them to better cope and heal from their experiences of violence & abuse, and move to independence. Activities include two holistic advice hubs offering: emotional support, information/advice & immediate advocacy support, needs & risk assessments, safety planning and seamless access to ongoing support services. These will be surrounded by the spokes of specialist services to complement the hubs including: targeted 1-1 casework services for, Black and Global Majority women /young women and girls/ women who are sexually exploited and/or faced multiple disadvantages), a specialist focus on providing housing support/access to safe accommodation, including emergency accommodation funding for single women with NRPF, 1:1 BACP accredited counselling delivered across London and in over 20 languages, London legal advice line- providing specialist family law and immigration legal advice, survivor group work to promote recovery and increase understanding of abuse, training and awareness raising to up skill professionals and staff.