Women\u2019s Aid has joined forces with the UK\u2019s leading scheduled coach operator to\u00a0support survivors of abuse by providing free National Express coach travel across the\u00a0UK.<\/p>\n

The Road to Refuge scheme provides women, men and children escaping domestic\u00a0abuse with access to free National Express coach travel to reach safe refuge\u00a0accommodation and support.<\/p>\n

The scheme is particularly crucial as survivors escaping domestic abuse are often\u00a0advised to seek refuge services far away from their perpetrator. For many, paying for\u00a0travel can be very difficult and become a barrier to seeking refuge as survivors will likely\u00a0be carrying little money and belongings when fleeing abuse. This is especially true for\u00a0women experiencing economic abuse, who may have little to no access to money.<\/p>\n

The new Road to Refuge scheme is an extension of Women\u2019s Aid\u2019s Rail to Refuge\u00a0programme whereby survivors can access free travel on the UK\u2019s rail network. Since the\u00a0launch of Rail to Refuge in April 2020, up to 1st October 2023 the scheme has supported\u00a07,432 survivors, including 2,146 children over 5 to safety. On average, Rail to Refuge\u00a0helps on average 6 survivors, including children, find safety each day.<\/p>\n

National Express initially supported the expansion of the Rail to Refuge scheme in\u00a0summer 2022, supporting survivors during rail strikes by offering their coach services\u00a0for free when survivors were unable to flee by train.<\/p>\n

Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women\u2019s Aid, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cDomestic abuse isolates survivors from their finances, making it incredibly difficult to\u00a0escape to safety. We are delighted to be working with National Express on the Road to\u00a0Refuge scheme, removing the financial barrier to fleeing abuse and helping survivors\u00a0access safe refuge at no cost to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a vital scheme for survivors who would otherwise be trapped and at a huge\u00a0increased risk of further abuse. The Road to Refuge scheme will be truly lifesaving,\u00a0giving survivors the opportunity to travel to vital, specialist support for free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charlotte Masters, Customer Experience Director at National Express, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud to partner with Women\u2019s Aid on the Road to Refuge scheme, offering\u00a0survivors free travel to a safe place on our extensive coach network across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur aim is to make the process of travelling as stress free as possible for survivors,\u00a0taking away the financial barrier to escaping abuse and helping them reach their\u00a0destination for help and support, safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurvivors can now access free coach travel in an emergency, when fleeing to refuge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Transport & Logistics<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Driving The Industry Forward<\/p>\n

The post Women\u2019s Aid and National Express Launch Road to Refuge<\/a> appeared first on Transport & Logistics Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Women\u2019s Aid has joined forces with the UK\u2019s leading scheduled coach operator to\u00a0support survivors of abuse by providing free National Express coach travel across the\u00a0UK. The Road to Refuge scheme provides women, men and children escaping domestic\u00a0abuse with access to free National Express coach travel to reach safe refuge\u00a0accommodation and support. The scheme is particularly crucial as survivors escaping domestic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camcab"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}