Fifty years from one Hartlepool refuge#
Harbour's story starts in 1974, when a group of women set up a refuge in Hartlepool for women and children escaping violence. It has since taken on more refuges and contracts from local and central government, and today works with families and individuals affected by abuse from a partner, a former partner or another family member. It is an independent charity and company limited by guarantee, affiliated to the Women's Aid Federation of England.
Harbour says it will support anyone affected by domestic abuse in the areas where it works, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin or age. It keeps the addresses of its refuges confidential, and explains that what you say in support sessions stays within the service except where a child is at risk of serious harm, someone may be harmed, or a crime is involved.
What it offers, and where#
Its adult services run across the North East: County Durham, Darlington, Hartlepool, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside. They include refuges and safe accommodation, outreach for people living in the community, support for children and young people, and programmes for people who have been abusive to a partner and want to change.
Not everything runs everywhere. Its counselling for women and men who have experienced sexual violence or abuse, one to one or in groups, is for people in Hartlepool and Stockton, and its work with people causing harm covers a different set of areas. Harbour suggests calling to find out what is available where you live.
Asking for help, or referring someone#
Harbour's contact page says its line is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for urgent advice; emails and messages through the site are read in office hours. Its Keeping Safe page also mentions private messages through its Facebook page.
The referral page says any organisation or individual can refer into its services. There are separate forms for Newcastle, for North Tyneside and Northumberland, and for Redcar and Cleveland, a general form for everywhere else, and written guidelines, with the Client Services Team on hand to help with the process.
Its online safety page starts by admitting what no website can promise: your movements online can never be hidden entirely. It explains how browsers keep history, why clearing it can itself raise suspicion, and why private browsing helps but is not foolproof. Its advice is that the only sure way is a computer the other person cannot reach, such as one at a library, a friend's or work.
Copies of your papers, kept apart#
Harbour's Keeping Safe page suggests making several copies of important papers, keeping one set in a packed bag and leaving others with a trusted friend or somewhere such as work. Its list includes your driving licence, birth certificates, passports, financial and insurance information, benefit letters and court orders.
A deed poll belongs on that list once you have one; from 16 you can write your own, at no cost, by copying GOV.UK's text. HM Passport Office and DVLA ask for the original and post it back, while most other organisations accept a certified copy, so the original can stay in one safe place and copies in another. The address printed on a deed matters too: if you are staying in a refuge, use the correspondence address staff give you, never the refuge itself (changing your name in a refuge).
Elsewhere in the handbook#
- Keeping an address private: anonymous registration and other public records.
- Charities for domestic abuse and safety: national helplines and other local services.
This page describes what Harbour publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. Harbour has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
