After more than 50 years of dedicated service, SAFE Foundation has entered a managed process of closure. This decision has been made with great care and following extensive consideration by our Board of Trustees in response to sustained financial pressures, significant changes to the commissioning landscape, and the loss of core commissioned income.

Founded in 1974 as Exeter Women’s Aid, SAFE has spent five decades supporting women, men and children affected by domestic abuse, trauma and adversity. Throughout that time, we have walked alongside thousands of individuals and families during some of the most difficult periods of their lives — helping people find safety, rebuild confidence, process trauma, strengthen relationships, and move towards recovery with dignity, hope and compassion.

Over the years, SAFE evolved far beyond a traditional support service. Alongside frontline therapeutic and advocacy work, we developed innovative trauma-informed programmes for children, young people and families, worked directly within schools and communities, and helped increase understanding of the lifelong impact of trauma across wider systems and services. We have always believed that recovery is possible when people are met with compassion, understanding and the right support.

The environment in which specialist charities like SAFE operate has changed significantly in recent years. Despite exploring new funding opportunities, developing partnerships, adapting our services and doing everything possible to protect our work, the combined impact of changing commissioning arrangements, reduced funding and increasing operational costs has made it impossible to sustain our services in the long term. Throughout this process, our priority has remained unchanged: ensuring that every service we provided was safe, meaningful and delivered to the standard our clients deserved.

This decision has not been made lightly. SAFE has been part of the lives of so many people across Devon and beyond, and we know this news will be deeply felt by former clients, staff, volunteers, partners and supporters alike. However, we are proud that this transition is being approached in the same way we have always sought to support others — with care, honesty, compassion and integrity.

Our focus has been on ensuring a thoughtful and respectful transition, supporting staff and clients wherever possible, and preserving the knowledge, learning and legacy developed across more than five decades of service.

While SAFE Foundation may be closing, its legacy will continue. It lives on in every individual who found safety, every child who discovered hope, every family who began to heal, every professional whose practice was shaped by trauma-informed understanding, and every community made stronger because SAFE was there when it mattered most.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our staff, volunteers, trustees, funders, commissioners, partners and supporters. Above all, we thank the thousands of individuals and families who placed their trust in SAFE over the past 50 years. It has been a privilege to walk alongside you.

If You Need Support

If you are experiencing domestic abuse, or are worried about someone you know, support is available.

Please contact the Devon Domestic Abuse Alliance (DDAA) for information, advice and access to local domestic abuse services across Devon.

https://ddaa.org.uk/

If you are in immediate danger, or believe someone else is at immediate risk, please call 999 and ask for the Police.

For enquiries relating to SAFE Foundation, including further help with support options, historical records or the future use of SAFE Foundation materials, please email contactus@wearesafe.org.uk.

After more than 50 years of service, SAFE Foundation’s work is coming to an end. The lives changed, the hope restored and the legacy created will continue to make a difference for many years to come.