By Ursula Duddy

A local women’s homeless shelter has responded to a protest held yesterday by residents and workers over concerns about changes to its operation.

The protest, Clarendon Women's Shelter - Rally of Support, was organised by the trade union, Unison’s Community Branch and took place at Clarendon Women's Shelter Ashmore House while letters of concern from residents and workers were handed over at Clooney Hall in the Waterside.

Unison said the aim of the protest was to ‘collectively resist attempts to change Clarendon Women's Shelter from an ethos of compassion and protecting women's rights into a service no one wants or recognises’.

Unison Community Branch cited the points of concern cited for the rally as ‘women's rights not being respected, women's consent and involvement - not control, workers’ rights and views not welcomed, union recognition, 40 year service ethos at risk, no enhanced maternity pay, alarming pay inequality’ and ‘respect not dictatorship’.

The rally came after the Derry News reported on the recent eviction of one of the residents, Louise Nash, who claimed she was given a letter informing her she must leave the premises within one hour after previous disagreements surrounding new rules and procedures.

In an open letter to Clarendon at Ashmore handed over by Ms Nash at Clooney Hall, residents reiterated concerns that their details and sensitive information had been shared on a computerised database despite them having told the board that they were not happy with this.

The women also claimed that they had signed a code of conduct when they first moved into the shelter and did not wish to sign a new one.

The women have also alleged that they were not told a new male member of staff was appointed and that, given the fact shelter had been an all-female establishment for over 40 years, they would have wanted to have been informed. The women said the shelter houses some residents who are victims of domestic abuse and they were surprised by the appointment of a male member of staff.

They also claimed they felt ‘patronised and undervalued’ when they attempted to express their concerns. A letter containing employees’ concerns was also handed over during the rally.

In response to the alleged concerns of both residents and staff at Clarendon at Ashmore, a spokesperson provided a full statement.

They said: “Clarendon Shelter (a registered charity) protects some of the most vulnerable women in our society and has done so for almost 40 years.

“The charity’s wholly voluntary Board is fully committed to providing an essential service to support homeless and vulnerable women in our community.

“We are committed to safeguarding the welfare of all of our residents and delivering the highest standards of care in a safe, confidential and discreet environment. Clients avail of 24-hour access to support staff at the facility.

“Clarendon Shelter continuously strives to improve the quality of services for residents by enhancing policies and procedures in line with Supporting People and NIHE best practice guidelines.

Clarendon Shelter adheres to NI Equality legislation, which does not discriminate on grounds of age, race, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation.”

They continued: “All residents at Clarendon Shelter must sign a License Agreement upon entry. Management has consulted with staff and residents and acknowledges that most residents observe acceptable standards of conduct whilst staying at the Shelter. However, it is important to establish a procedure for dealing with residents who fail to observe and comply with rules and regulations laid down by management to promote and maintain an acceptable and safe environment for both staff and residents alike. This is why a Residents’ Code of Conduct was introduced at Clarendon Shelter.

Clarendon Shelter employs robust confidentiality and data protection policies to protect residents’ identities and personal information. Due to concerns raised by some residents pertaining to their personal information, the Board of Clarendon Shelter met with the residents and explained the use of a Housing Management System called SASSHA.

“SASSHA is contained within a secure database located at the North West Methodist Mission (a registered charity). Each area of the system is secured with access rights. This means that access to different schemes and areas of information within the system are limited and controlled by each user login. The North West Methodist Mission’s database is held on an internal server and cannot be accessed by external agencies.

“Clarendon Shelter, the North West Methodist Mission and SASSHA administrators take security and data protection very seriously and in accordance with each individual client’s needs.

Whilst it would be inappropriate for the organisation to comment on individual cases, it is important to note that management has not made any resident homeless and has successfully made alternative accommodation available for residents who leave our service.”

The spokesperson added:  “Clarendon Shelter is concerned that Unison has not made any representation to current management despite the operation of an open-door policy. Clarendon Shelter is also concerned that Unison’s action has brought negative attention to a once discreet service operating from a discreet location.

“Clarendon Shelter welcomes the opportunity to meet with anyone who may have concerns in order to bring about a timely resolution for all parties.

“We value and respect all staff at Clarendon Shelter and take any employee concerns very seriously. We are currently engaged in a process of consultation with employees. This is an internal and confidential process on which it would be inappropriate to comment publicly.

“Our long-standing, collaborative and continuing working relationship with the North West Methodist Mission is greatly valued and mutually beneficial to the operations of both charities.”

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