WHEN Brenda finally left her husband after three years of physical abuse she had nowhere to go.

The 56-year-old had been arrested and charged by police with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after she cut her partner with a knife.

He had smashed a plate of dinner into her face - the latest in a long line of savage attacks.

Brenda, from Durham City, found out about the Family Help refuge in Darlington through her solicitor and was one of its first residents.

Without it, she says, she would have ended up in a bail hostel and struggled to cope.

"Coming to the refuge was traumatic but the staff were ever so nice," she says.

"They supported me with everything and have given me a different outlook on life.

"I was a widow and was on my own for ten years before I met my second husband.

"He was fine while we were going out but the day we got married it all changed.

"He smashed a bottle of vodka over my head on the wedding night."

Brenda pleaded guilty at crown court and was given a one-year suspended prison sentence for the retaliation on her husband.

She stayed at the refuge for many months after her conviction and has now divorced her husband and found a new home.

"I still come in just to see the girls and see the staff," she says. "I really can't praise them enough."

Since Cherie Blair opened the Darlington facility last June, scores of victims have sought refuge there.

For the past six months the building has had full occupancy.

One hundred and thirty women and their 213 children have had to be referred to other refuges because of lack of room.

Residents come from all walks of life and are of all ages but they share one thing in common - they have run out of options.

Last year, there were two pensioners housed at the refuge, though the average age for victims is between 20 and 35.

It is open to single women or those with children and there is no limit on how long people can stay, though its usually between three to six months.

Susan, the refuge manager, says: "It has to be a last choice because there isn't anywhere else to go.

"To come into a place like this with lots of people you don't know is not easy.

"But what we do is help people gain control of their own lives and build up their confidence while they are here."

The refuge has eight units for residents and their children plus communal areas, including kitchens, a lounge, garden and play area.

It is a light, airy, friendly place but constant use means bedding, furniture and electrical equipment needs regularly replacing.

That can prove difficult as the refuge's only source of funding is from the Government's Supporting People fund, grants from various trusts and residents' housing benefit.

It costs £130,000-a-year to run and at the moment there is a £35,000 shortfall in funding.

The refuge has 13 staff, two of them full-time, plus volunteers. A support plan is devised for each resident and they are offered a wide range of help - from advice on legal matters, to emotional counselling and practical courses to help them become independent, such as decorating skills and DIY.

The refuge also does outreach work in the community and offers a 24-hour confidential helpline which has taken 1,314 calls since last June, 33 of them from male victims of domestic violence.

"We are offering choices," says Susan. "It may not be accommodation that people need - it might just be the name of a solicitor.

"It doesn't have to be physical violence that they ring us about either. It can be emotional."

Susan believes that the rise in the number of women seeking refuge is not because of an increase in violence.

"I think there is less stigma attached to domestic violence so clients are coming forward," she says.

"We can't choose for them but a lower per cent go back to their partners now than when I started working for this charity 18 years ago.

"Women now realise that there is help available and that they don't have to live with violence."

After they leave the refuge, the support continues as outreach workers call at people's new homes.

* The names in this story have been changed.

* The domestic violence helpline is on (01325) 364486. The refuge's website is at www.darlingtonrefuge.org.uk