The collaboration equips housing officers with the specialised training necessary to recognise the signs of abuse and offer effective, sensitive assistance.

Joint research by Scottish Women’s Aid and Refuge reveals that one in four women in the UK will experience some form of domestic abuse in their lifetime, and tragically, two women lose their lives each year due to domestic abuse.

Staff at Almond Housing believe no one should face these challenges alone, which is why they have been partnered with West Lothian Women’s Aid (WLWA) for the past seven years, working together to provide vital support and guidance.

WLWA hosts a drop-in session every fortnight at the Big Living Room in Almond HQ, where women can speak with a trained advisor in a safe and confidential space. In addition, WLWA has trained housing officers in the dynamics of domestic abuse, ensuring they can provide the right support when needed.

Two of the Almond team members, Linsey and Lesleyann, have gone even further, completing the Safe & Together training programme.

A child-centered, survivor-strengths approach designed to improve responses to domestic abuse, Safe & Together focuses on keeping children safe and together with their non-offending parent, while holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.

This ground-breaking model equips staff with the skills to recognise signs of abuse and guide survivors with the most appropriate advice and support.

As qualified practitioners, Linsey and Lesleyann are accessible first points of contact for any tenant seeking help.

Sandy Young, director of housing management at Almond, said: “The partnership with WLWA has been and continues to be invaluable. It is important to provide the housing team with as many tools as possible, to help them support themselves and our tenants.

“The dynamics of domestic abuse training was insightful. Too often we can simplify things with thoughts such as ‘why doesn’t she just leave’ when it isn’t that easy.

“Our officers have become better at recognising signs, such as broken internal door locks, and are able to sensitively approach someone, or know what to do when someone asks for help. The team would agree that we can always get better, but we are light years ahead of where we were 10 years ago.”

Ilena Brown, CEO of WLWA, added: “We need more organisations like Almond (particularly those with frontline staff who have access to people’s homes) to consider undertaking the dynamics of domestic abuse training followed by the evidence-based domestic abuse-informed training Safe and Together.

“The more awareness there is, the more women and children can be supported.”