Juno in Nottingham#
Juno Women's Aid is the largest domestic abuse organisation in Nottingham and has worked there for more than 40 years; it takes its name from the Roman goddess who protected women and children. It works with women, children and teenagers in Nottingham City, Ashfield, Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe. In 2024 to 2025 it supported 3,412 women and 364 children and young people, fostered 59 pets and took more than 16,000 helpline calls.
Its services include crisis support and drop-ins, survivor advocacy in the city and the county, refuge, a stalking advocacy service, family court support, a housing service, the Bloom counselling service and courses such as Own My Life. Children aged 5 to 17 get one-to-one and group support in the city and south of the county, and young people aged 13 to 17 can get help with abuse in their own relationships.
A helpline that is always open#
Juno runs the 24-hour Nottingham and Nottinghamshire domestic and sexual violence helpline for women in the area, answered by female support workers around the clock, 365 days a year. Calls are free from landlines and mobiles and do not show on itemised bills, and you need not give your name. If the line is busy, leave a message saying it is safe to call back and a safe number. Text relay works around the clock, and email is answered between 9am and 9pm, usually within a day. Men are pointed to Equation's service for men and LGBTQ+ people.
Its guide How to leave safely suggests calling from a library or any doctor's surgery, even one you are not registered with, by asking the receptionist for a quiet room. It links a three-part series on location sharing, securing devices and spyware.
Pets, a common reason people stay#
Most refuges and hostels cannot take animals, so Juno's Pet Foster Project places them with volunteer foster carers until you can have them back. It has looked after dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, lizards, birds and fish, works with the PDSA, Dogs Trust and Cats Protection, and covers Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire and Lincolnshire. Women have told Juno they could not have left without it.
Juno's list of papers to take#
Its emergency bag guide lists the documents worth packing: a passport, driving licence or other ID; birth certificates for you and your children; National Insurance numbers; your marriage certificate or divorce papers; and bank statements, cards and insurance policies, ideally in a waterproof folder. It is just as clear that none of this should delay you in danger: it says documents can be replaced and you cannot. Its financial safety plan adds opening an account in your name alone and choosing passwords your former partner could not guess.
Replacing papers, then changing your name#
Juno publishes nothing on names, but the papers on its list are the ones a change of name leans on. If you left a birth or marriage certificate behind, the General Register Office sends a copy of one from England or Wales for £12.50, ordered through GOV.UK (birth certificates and a new name). For the deed poll itself, GOV.UK's sample text lets anyone over 16 write one without paying. Check your bank's rules early: a handful will not take an unenrolled deed until you also hold photo ID in the new name (how banks compare). In a refuge, ask which address to print on the deed (refuge residents).
This page describes what Juno Women's Aid publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. Juno has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
