What we do...
Star Support is a new London-based refuge and community support service for LGBTIQ+ survivors of domestic abuse. We’re here to support London's queer community by providing safe accommodation, community-centred support and advice.
Our mission is to ensure that LGBTIQ+ survivors have access to safe accommodation and that their voices, needs and experiences are heard and understood. We aim to achieve this by providing safe accommodation, amplifying the voices of LGBTIQ+ survivors in terms of housing-related support, developing evidence and insight and delivering education and best practice.
Star Support is a by-and-for service. This means that our services are founded by LGBTIQ+ people with lived experience of domestic violence and homelessness. They are delivered by LGBTIQ+ people, for LGBTIQ+ people.​
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Scroll down to learn more about what we do...
Star Refuge is a new accommodation service based in London. Star Refuge provides a safe place to stay and specialist support for LGBTIQ+ people experiencing domestic abuse. Each resident of Star Refuge receives time for rest and recovery, a co-developed support plan, access to community support groups and therapeutic activities.
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Referrals to Star Refuge are made through our partner organisations or through our weekly community support group, Star Lounge. Star Lounge takes place every Thursday at The Outside Project LGBTIQ+ Centre in Borough. If you are an LGBTIQ+ person experiencing domestic abuse and are in need of accommodation support, please register to attend our community support group, Star Lounge (details below).
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Star Recovery is comprised of two weekly sessions, the Star Recovery Programme and StArt, which run on Thursdays at The Outside Project LGBTIQ+ centre in Borough. The Star Recovery Programme is our new 11-week programme covering a range of essential skills and knowledge building to help LGBTIQ+ survivors of domestic abuse gain a greater perspective, control and independence. StArt is our new weekly art group for LGBTIQ+ survivors. In these sessions, the group will be exploring themes of recovery, identity and self-expression, while offering creative ways to process experiences.
Please visit our page to find out more about Star Recovery and how to sign up.
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We offer some advice in relation to people’s accommodation. We also work closely with a number of partner organisations and may refer people to their services to ensure they receive effective support.
Star news
Have a look at what we have been doing recently...
02 December 2024
Star Support to launch two new services in the new year
We are launching two new services in the new year! We have been developing our support services for LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic abuse and are really happy to accounce our to two new support groups, The Star Recovery Programme and StArt.
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The Star Recovery Programme is an 11-week rolling programme, covering a range of essential skills and knowledge building to help LGBTIQ+ survivors to gain a greater perspective, control and independence. Sessions will focus on well-being, trauma processing, and rebuilding self-worth. These sessions are referral only (including self-referrals). Our first 11-week cycle will begin on the 9th Jan.
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StArt is our new weekly creative session where LGBTIQ+ survivors, of all artistic abilities, will be guided to make creative work to express themselves and process their experiences. The StArt group will be exploring themes of recovery and identity through a range of creative activities, exploring and expressing ourselves through different art forms. We're excited to be working on long-term projects, which will include making zines, quilts and an exhibition! The first StArt session will be on the 9th Jan.
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These two groups will happen at The Outside Project LGBTIQ+ Centre on Thursdays, replacing our former weekly support group, Star Lounge. To find out more and self-refer, visit 'Star Recovery' in the Services section of our website.
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Thank you @hellomynameiswednesday for are amazing new art work!
18th March 2024
Launch of the London Queer Housing Coalition
We are excited to announce the launch of the The London Queer Housing Coalition 🎉 We’re part of this new steering group made up of by-and-for LGBTIQ+ housing and homelessness organisations working together to make London more inclusive and accessible for all LGBTIQ+ people. The coalition includes Star Support, Stonewall Housing, The Outside Project, First Brick, Micro Rainbow, Tonic and akt.
We have written our Manifesto for the upcoming Mayoral election, which you can read here. We have sent each Mayoral candidate a copy and are keenly awaiting their responses!
27th February 2024
A visit from the Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Development, during LGBT+ History Month
Staff from Star Support, Strides and The Outside Project with Tom Copley, (Deputy Mayor of London) sitting in Cary's Space - the Star Refuge recovery room
We marked LGBT+ History Month with a visit from Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development last week.
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Tom met the Star Support team and some of our residents at Star Refuge to find out more about our new specialist service for LGBTIQ+ survivors of domestic abuse. We were also joined by members of our partner organisations, the Outside Project and Strides. We spent the morning talking about the prevalence and effect of domestic abuse presents on our community and the intrinsic role by-and-for LGBTIQ+ domestic abuse services play in recovery. ​
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It was great to come together shortly after opening the UK’s first by-and-for LGBTIQ+ domestic abuse accommodation scheme and community support service!
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We would like to thank the Mayor’s Office for their support and for making it possible to open this new and essential service. We believe that all LGBTIQ+ survivors should have access to specialist and community-centred recovery. As we grow, we aim to offer our service to many more survivors in the UK, while continuing to fight for equality and inclusion within broader domestic abuse services.