Glasgow Women's Aid since 1973#
Glasgow Women's Aid was set up in 1973, during the second wave of the women's liberation movement, by women volunteers who saw the need for safe refuge, and was built for years on donations alone. Its focus has widened from women to include children and young people, and it works from a feminist understanding that abuse stems from an imbalance of power. Alongside refuge it runs advocacy (IDAA and MARAC), outreach, play therapy, survivor-led peer groups, a child contact group and prevention work in schools.
Its confidentiality statement says nothing you tell it in confidence goes outside the organisation, unless a worker thinks a child, young person or vulnerable adult is at risk, and that wherever possible you would be told first.
Crisis support without an appointment#
The Crisis Support Service is the way in. You can phone the crisis support line or come into the office in the city centre without an appointment, between half past nine and half past four on weekdays, and come back as often as you like. Workers talk through safe housing, including refuge, weigh up the risks, plan your safety with you, explain your legal, housing and money rights, and can arrange an interpreter. When the office is shut, Scotland's national domestic abuse and forced marriage helpline, which never closes, is the alternative. Professionals refer women by calling Crisis Support.
Refuge, then Follow On#
It has 46 refuge spaces across Glasgow for women and their children: self-contained flats, most with an office on site; a purpose-built, wheelchair-friendly refuge with two flats designed for people with sensory, physical or visual impairments; shared flats with private bedrooms; and satellite flats in the community. You need bring only clothes and personal belongings. A Family Resource Worker helps you find a permanent home, sort out benefits and debts, and get legal advice, parenting help and healthcare, and shows you the local shops, doctor and library. Stays run from about three months to over a year, and residents have an on-call service out of hours.
After you are rehoused, the Follow On service gives you a worker for the move. Its page says workers go with women to appointments, for example with the benefits agency or lawyers, help them change their address with the relevant agencies, and apply to the Scottish Welfare Fund for furniture and white goods.
Enough!! for young women#
Enough!! is for young women aged 13 to 21 worried about a relationship, whether or not they live with the person. It has a weekday helpline and an Instagram account, and professionals can refer young women to it.
A new name in Scotland#
Glasgow Women's Aid has no guidance of its own on names. A new name means telling many of the same organisations a Follow On worker helps with after a move, so it can make sense to update both at once (who to tell). Its safety plan already lists the papers to take when leaving: passport, benefit paperwork, medical cards, bank information and legal papers.
Scots law gives people born or adopted in Scotland the option of an NRS entry against their birth record, and Citizens Advice Scotland points out that anyone can look that entry up. Glaswegians born elsewhere, and anyone who wants the change kept private, can use a deed poll they write themselves from GOV.UK's text, or a statutory declaration, neither of which is filed anywhere (our Scotland guide). From 16, a young woman decides for herself (changing your name at 16 or 17).
This page describes what Glasgow Women's Aid publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. Glasgow Women's Aid has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
