The Last Resident is a film made with Josh Gaunt to document the final days of Exeter’s women’s refuge.

When the women’s refuge closed, unexpectedly in March 2014 after nearly 30 years – I was artist in residence. I was neither an employee or a resident, and to be caught up in this confusion, I had the privilege of an independent outsider’s viewpoint unaffected personally by the changes. What I could gather from the conversations in both the office and the residents lounge, was a sense of feeling this huge change being swept under the carpet. There were big storms in Devon that Spring that echoed the uncertainty and upset at the refuge. The news was full of stories of storm damage,  such as the dramatic collapse of the sea wall at Dawlish by the railway line.

We organised a press conference about the refuge closure to which amazingly all the residents came – but not a single news reporter turned up. The women felt unheard and devastated. I spoke to a friend, a filmmaker, Josh Gaunt – and together we decided to make a short film documenting the closure. I thought that at very least, this documentation would mean the closure would not go unrecorded. The usual strict protocol over entry into the refuge was gone as there was a hurried packing up and moving on of residents – so my request to bring in a (male) filmmaker was granted. On the day we visited with equipment in hand, there was just one woman remaining. She told us her story and we filmed the empty, quiet spaces of the refuge – where kids had been running through just days before – and her words spoke for many others when she upheld the significance of a safe space during tumultuous and traumatic times. This film, we called “The Last Resident” is a document of what happened – and a symbol of other refuge closures around the country. Through Twitter, it was picked up by news outlets and interviews with the last resident herself were held with BBC Breakfast and Women’s Hour, with a piece appearing in the online Guardian, and a contribution to a Panorama programme being produced at the time.

The Last Resident