This week at Glow, we’re saying a big thank you to Totally Stoked who have supported our refuges this winter.  

Totally Stoked is operated by VAST (Voluntary Action Stoke-on-Trent) and encourages local people and businesses to share their time, skills and knowledge, to support voluntary projects and groups across the city.

Last year, the organisation worked with construction companies Galliford Try, Keble Heath and RH Traffic Management. The three businesses teamed up with Totally Stoked to make donations of £500 to five different good causes across Stoke-on-Trent, including Glow. Our donation was split equally between our three safe accommodation refuges in Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands.

We support men, women and children who have escaped domestic abuse across our three safe accommodation refuges and community-based accommodation. We offer a safe place to stay and lots of tailored support from specialist staff.

It’s a difficult time, so we wanted to use the donation to purchase items to make our safe accommodation schemes more comfortable. This included cosy bean bags, cushions and decorative items, such as a mirror, to make communal spaces more homely.

Team Leader Vicki Bevington manages our Newcastle-under-Lyme refuge.

She said: “The donation from Totally Stoked helped us to add some nice, homely touches to our recently decorated lounge area.

“Our lounge is somewhere that individuals and families can go to relax or meet with their support worker.

“It has made a huge difference in making it a welcoming and inviting space.”

Team Leader Donna Boon manages our Stoke-on-Trent refuge.

Donna said: “We’re so grateful to have this support from Totally Stoked.

“Donations like these make sure that we can buy items to make refuge more than just ‘OK’. We want the families we support to feel comfortable.

“At our Stoke-on-Trent refuge, we were able to buy bean bags for the flats. When children run in and see the coloured bean bags, the smile on their face says it all.

“It’s not good enough for our safe accommodation to be ‘just OK’. We always strive to be better and the donations we receive help us massively with this.”

Charlie Cooper is the Director of Keble Heath Construction, one of the three companies who teamed up to help charities across Stoke-on-Trent.

He said: “It’s good to help these small community projects or organisations who are working with local people.

“It’s great to know that by working together with a big company like Galliford Try and RH Traffic Management, another locally based company, we can help to make a difference.”

Find out more about our services here.