Wearside Women in Need#
WWIN is an independent charity that has supported survivors and children in Sunderland for more than 40 years, serving a population of almost 350,000 across Wearside. It describes itself as a feminist organisation that recognises domestic abuse as gendered, while saying anyone can be a victim, and it uses "victim" and "survivor" interchangeably, following each person's own preference.
Its staff help with whatever abuse has touched: personal safety, housing, physical and mental health, immigration, legal issues, money and work. The first of the four priorities in its 2026 to 2029 strategy is transforming lives: believing, belonging, becoming. It also runs Findaway, for people worried about a family member's or friend's relationship, and Right Turn, for people who want to change how they behave towards a partner or children.
Four ways in#
WWIN's talk to us page sets out each route:
- The office line, for anything, Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday to 4.30pm. Reception answers and arranges a call back from a specialist worker, or transfers you if it is urgent.
- The freephone helpline, every day from 9am to 9pm, kept for people affected by abuse or worried they are at risk, not for professionals or general enquiries.
- Webchat, in office hours. WWIN says this is the best way to chat online because, unlike Facebook or Instagram messages, the messages are not saved on your phone or browser.
- In person at its Sunderland city centre office, or by email or post. Outreach appointments can be somewhere else in the community if the centre is hard to reach.
Its online referral form works for you or for a client, with consent; it will not act on a referral it believes was made without consent. Professionals referring for refuge ask its accommodation team for a form. Interpreters can be arranged, and it points to Women's Aid's information and Survivor's Handbook in other languages and audio.
Ringing WWIN#
A trained adviser answers and asks about your situation, without pressing you for more than you want to say, and an experienced domestic abuse advocate then talks it through. WWIN is plain that it will not tell you what to do or give its own view of what you should do: it explores options, and you decide. An advocate can then help with safety planning, whether you stay or leave, and speak up for you with the police, courts, social services and housing.
Refuge in Sunderland#
WWIN provides emergency refuge for women and children, and can find safe accommodation for male victims. Refuge staff are on hand at all hours, all year. Families have self-contained flats in a secure building; women without children can choose from self-contained flats in a secure, recently refurbished building, a fully staffed building with shared facilities, or individual properties. Counsellors work within the refuges, and every child there has access to therapeutic care, activities and groups. You might stay a few days, a few weeks or up to six months, and staff help you resettle when you know where you want to be.
Outside refuge, WWIN offers free trauma-informed counselling for anyone aged 16 or over affected by abuse in childhood or adulthood, weekly groups and social activities, and support for children through counselling, groups and joint work with the safe parent.
When you are ready to change your name#
WWIN publishes nothing on names, and true to its approach, whether and when to change yours is your call. A deed poll you draft from GOV.UK's sample costs nothing once you are 16. Residents of its refuges should put a postal address for correspondence on the deed (refuge residents), then work through the organisations to tell in a sensible order (who to tell). For the rest of the North East, see Harbour.
This page describes what Wearside Women in Need publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. WWIN has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
