Unity Trust Bank funding helps Purple House in Hull expand its services for victims of domestic abuse

A women-led charity that has supported thousands of women and children affected by domestic abuse has extended its purpose-built HQ thanks to six-figure funding from Unity Trust Bank.

Winner, the Preston Road Women’s Centre - known locally as Purple House because of its Suffragette colours - used the £300,000 finance to increase the size of its charity shop and create additional office space.

Lisa Hilder MBE, Treasurer and founding member, said: “We receive lots of donations and where to keep the stock has always been an issue for us. Now we have plenty of storage and shop floor space.

“Every item we sell is 50p. We do that consciously because we’re also providing a service to residents on the Preston Road Estate. This is an area of high deprivation and by providing decent quality clothing so cheaply it’s also helping the local community.

“The extended office space upstairs is for our Affordable Justice law firm. We set this up in 2016 in response to swingeing cuts to legal aid that impacted dreadfully on women fleeing abuse.

“Here we offer not-for-profit, legal advice and representation for women who come through our services and women anywhere in England and Wales.”

Winner started life in the late 1990s when a handful of volunteers came together to support women in crisis.

Now a multi-million-pound enterprise with a portfolio of 180 properties, it provides flexible accommodation and an array of services including support, training and free nursery places for women accessing services. Many of Winner’s 42-strong women workforce are previous service users.

Winner first banked with Unity over a decade ago after the organisation secured a £1 million grant through the Government's Empty Homes programme and wanted to match it with finance.

Lisa said: “We shopped around for a social purpose bank and Unity lent us £980,000 to help multiply the benefit that we could achieve from government funding. Bringing empty homes back into use to help women was the beginning of our relationship.

“Unity worked with us and understood our aspirations. Some banks are only concerned about the money side of things whereas Unity is genuinely interested in helping customers to develop and grow.

“If we ever have an issue we can get help really quickly through the Customer Experience team or through our Relationship Manager, Michael Wicks.”

Michael Wicks, Relationship Manager at Unity Trust Bank, said: “Winner has helped thousands of women and children to rebuild their lives and as a social impact bank, we were delighted to help fund this project. It will enable the organisation to continue to generate much-needed funds and help the local community.”

Catherine Douglas, Chief Customer Officer at Unity Trust Bank, said: “We pride ourselves on understanding our customers and their needs and supporting them to deliver positive social impact. The expansion of the charity shop and the additional space for affordable legal services will benefit many women and children in need.”