SWINDON Women’s Aid welcomed the Minister of State for Policing, Fire and Criminal justice to their women’s refuge last week.

Brandon Lewis visited the refuge to meet with SWA director Olwen Kelly and find out more about the work the charity does.

The refuge service runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and provides emergency accommodation for victims and children fleeing domestic violence.

It currently houses 20 women and 58 children and is the biggest facility of its kind in the UK.

He was joined by south Swindon MP Robert Buckland and Wiltshire & Swindon police and crime commissioner Angus Macpherson.

Olwen said she was delighted to welcome the minister to the facility, which has been open since 2012

“It’s very exciting to have Brandon here and to show him what we do here. I am very proud of the refuge.

“I’m proud of all of it. This refuge is gold standard,” she said.

“When people arrive here, it’s taken a lot, on average 35 incidents before they come here.

“It can be in the middle of the night, in police cars, the children are in their pyjamas.

“They don’t need anything, we will provide it all. Food, clothes, toiletries it is all there for them.”

Olwen explained to the minister about the different types of abuse which lead women and families to the refuge.

“There’s physical, emotional, financial, sexual abuse. There’s psychological abuse, coercive control where people don’t realise they are being abused and may think it’s a sign the partner cares,” said Olwen.

The minister was given a tour of the facilities which comprises a variety of two and three bedroom flats and a children's play area.

He said he was impressed with the work of the charity.

““I wanted to see what’s going on here and what makes it work so well.

“Because of organisations like this victims are becoming more confident in coming forward feeling safe knowing that now they can come here. I think it’s fantastic,” he said.

“Prevention is much better than cure, and we want to understand how the police can help people get back into society so there’s a learning curve from that.

“We also want to raise the profile of the refuge in the community.”

Robert Buckland also paid tribute to the work of the refuge.

“It’s amazing that we have this facility in the town.

“This is a great example of how dedicated the team are and a refuge that is supported by the local authority, it’s something that we value as a real part of our local services. "The work Olwen and the team do here is invaluable.”

Last month Prime Minister Theresa May ordered at risk women's refuges would be exempt from the housing benefit cap, after fears were raised that two third of women's refuges could face closure as a result.