Our services
Accommodation
We have safe, supportive temporary accommodation throughout North Staffordshire for single people and people with children.
Customers fleeing domestic abuse and in need of housing get support from a trained practitioner who will help them rebuild their lives and live independently again. We give a voice to victims who are in need of housing across North Staffordshire. This includes specialist support for those facing multiple disadvantage and dedicated assistance to move on from safe accommodation in a planned and supported way.
Our Housing Advocate supports those fleeing domestic abuse through their housing journey. They offer essential emotional support as well as making sure that the customer has access to appropriate ongoing domestic abuse support.
Support for children and young people in refuge
We offer group support and can offer specialist one-to-one support to children and young people that have either experienced abuse at home or are in their own unhealthy relationships. We have activities for children and young people.
We can also help parents find a new school place for their child if they have to relocate.
Domestic Abuse Sanctuary Service
We can help customers in Stoke on Trent to remain safely in their own homes. Our fellow Honeycomb Group brand, Revival, delivers the Domestic Abuse Sanctuary Service, which provides safety measures to homes and allows victims who want to stay at home, to safely do so.
Recovery Hub
Our Recovery Hub service provides holistic support to female survivors to help them rebuild their lives free from abuse after they have left. Group programme are delivered either online or in-person by trained Domestic Abuse Practitioners and trained volunteers.
Freedom Programme
A 12 week programme which helps people who have experienced abusive relationships recognise and understand the dynamics of domestic abuse.
Recognise and Reconnect
A 10 week programme to help mothers and care givers who have experienced abuse to develop the tools they need to move on and start a new chapter with their children.
Recovery Toolkit
A 12 week cognitive behavioural therapy programme to help survivors understand their individual experience of domestic abuse and move towards a brighter future.
Social and wellbeing activities
We offer a flexible timetable of free activities to survivors, including ‘Brew Can Do It,’ a virtual and in-person social group, weekly yoga sessions, sound baths, and sewing workshops. Our activities are developed around whatever our customers tell us they would like. We are ‘place based,’ and deliver our programmes and activities in accessible community venues.
Volunteering
We run two AIM accredited volunteer programmes a year. Our volunteers are intrinsic to the service, many with lived experience, who have a desire to help other survivors recover from their experiences of abuse.
Volunteering within the Recovery Hub helps volunteers to gain new skills, increase their confidence, build support networks and improve their career opportunities.
Derbyshire IDVA Services
We deliver the IDVA (Independent Domestic Violence Advisor) services throughout Derbyshire County and Derby City for those victims who are at high risk of serious harm or homicide.
An IDVA is a specialist professional who works with a victim of domestic abuse to develop a trusting relationship. They can help a victim with everything they need to become safe and rebuild their life, and represent their voice at a Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC), as well as helping them to navigate the criminal justice process and working with the different statutory agencies to provide wraparound support. In addition to providing IDVA’s who work in the community we also offer specialist areas of support:
Court IDVA
• Arranging a pre-trial visit.
• Safely assessing the victim or witness both inside and out of court.
• Applying for special measures (such as screens, using the back entrances to the building, video links) where appropriate.
• Emotional support when attending court
• Tracking of cases and offering information on court hearings, bail conditions and explaining at what current stage your court case has reached
• Liaison with the Crown Prosecution Service (w) and Courts
• Information about Restraining Orders, Residence Orders and Occupation Orders
• Support with Criminal Injuries Compensation
Family welfare court IDVA
• Provides emotional and practical support to victim and survivors of domestic abuse who going through the family court process.
• Complete risk assessments, create safety plans, signpost, advocate for
customers and liaise with other agencies.
• Make sure victim and survivors of domestic abuse feel safe, secure and
confident as they go through the family court process.
• Prepare them for what will happen inside the court and help them communicate with legal professionals.
• Arrange pre-court visits and special measures.
Stalking and harassment lead IDVA
• Understand the wide range of stalking tactics used to frighten and control victims.
• Provides practical, emotional and advocacy support for those victims
experiencing stalking and harassment.
• Focus on safety planning, practical safety measures and the use of civil and criminal justice systems to increase protection.
• Arrange pre-court visits and make sure they remain safe in court
Black and minority ethnic IDVA
• Work with victims who are from minority ethnic groups in our community.
• Offer specific support with an understanding and awareness of issues including forced marriage, honour based violence and the cultural complexities that can exist when working with people from these communities.
• Work on any issues that could arise from the lack of awareness in regards to the laws in this country and what protection can be put in place.
• Complete risk assessments and clarify any confusion that could arise due to the lack of understanding of what is deemed abuse in this country.
• IDVAs will also have awareness of other support agencies that can support people if they are having difficulties due to their legal status or recourse to public funds.
Health IDVA
Works closely with colleagues based in Chesterfield Royal and Derby Royal hospitals. There are two main areas of their work: directly working with survivors and directly working and building partnerships with hospital staff. Our Health IDVA:
- proactively contacts referrals to complete a risk assessment and will advise victims on criminal justice, civil remedies, housing and related matters.
- provides initial advice and crisis safety planning before the case is allocated or referred to the domestic abuse service local to the victim for more longer term support.
180 project
The 180 project aims to reduce the number of child and adult victims by challenging the attitude and behaviours of those who perpetrate abuse and promote motivation and capability to change their behaviour. Through a mixture of approaches, our team assertively reach out to perpetrators and disrupt patterns of abuse so that they are ready and willing to engage long term on making positive changes
Our aims are to:
- Reduce the number of repeat and new victims
- Reduce the harm caused to victims and children
- Reduce the number of serial perpetrators of domestic abuse
- Intervene earlier to protect families living with domestic abuse
ISS (Integrated Safety Service)
The ISS is an integral part of the 189 project managing risk and addressing the safety of victims at risk of harm from intimate partners, ex-partners or family members.
Serving as a victim’s primary point of contact, ISS practitioners work with their clients throughout the perpetrators engagement with the service to monitor the level of risk posed to them and their children, develop safety plans and support them with any relevant needs they have. They are proactive in developing and implementing safety and support plans, which address immediate safety, including practical steps the victim can take to protect themselves and their children, as well as longer-term solutions. These plans will include sanctions and remedies
Available through the criminal and civil courts, housing options, and signposting to services available through other organisations. ISS practitioners operate within a multi-agency framework. The ISS role in all multi-agency settings is to keep the victim’s safety at the centre of proceedings and advocate on their behalf.
Relationships without Fear
Relationships without Fear is an education and prevention programme available in Staffordshire (including Stoke-on-Trent) and Derbyshire (including Derby) that aims to break the cycle of domestic abuse by reducing the likelihood of children and young people experiencing it in their current and future relationships.
The programme is a six-week schools intervention aimed at children and young people from primary school to college. Each one is tailored to match the pupils’ age and ability, with relevant and relatable group activities, discussions and resources.
Topics covered include:
• Dealing with anger.
• Safety planning.
• Effects of social media and gender stereotypes.
Each programme includes:
• Delivery by a trained member of staff.
• Range of professional resources and materials including a workbook for each pupil.
• Full evaluation for the school at the end, which evidences the impact of the programme and tracks outcomes.
• Brief intervention follow on one-to-one sessions for children and young people affected by any issues raised. We can also support schools with onward referrals to other agencies.
• Safeguarding and disclosure support and advice for education providers.
1 hour Healthy Relationships Awareness Assembly
We offer one hour assembly sessions for primary and secondary schools, and colleges. During the session, we show pupils and students how to identify risk, create a safety plan, and what support services are available.
XRoads
XRoads is a group programme which aims to show teenagers what healthy
relationships look like, helping improving their own self-worth and confidence. The project also teaches young people about how to keep themselves safe, consent and how to access support.
In addition to the group work, we do a weekly drop in and encourage their families to look at what support is needed to move forward together once the programme has ended.
Training for youth group and club leaders
We run two hour training courses for leaders of youth groups and clubs, to help them recognise the signs of an unhealthy relationship, understand the impact, and how to confidently deal with disclosures.
Our Practitioners provide one-to-one support for children aged 4-19 in Newcastle-under-Lyme who have or are living with domestic abuse.
Our YPVAs provide specialist support for those in their own abusive relationship. Each child or young person will be met in a safe place by their support worker to complete a needs assessment, provide tailored support and make an action plan.
Support includes safety planning, work on healthy and unhealthy relationships and their understanding, feelings and emotions as well looking at any additional support needs that the young person may have.
We deliver the Stalking Advocacy Service in Derby City.
Stalking is a pattern of fixated, obsessive and unwanted behaviour which is repeated and persistent, and causes you to feel alarm and distress, and/or fear violence.
Stalking behaviours can include repeated and unwanted contact (by phone, text, online or in person), sending unwanted gifts, making contact with friends, family members, colleagues or employers, damaging or stealing property, using threats or coercion to get you to respond or repeatedly breaching any orders that have been put in place to protect you from them.
Stalking is illegal and help is available to those experiencing this.
Our Stalking and Harassment Lead IDVA can:
• Understand the wide range of stalking tactics used to frighten and control.
• Provide practical, emotional and advocacy support for people experiencing stalking and harassment.
• Focus on safety planning, practical safety measures and the use of civil and criminal justice systems to increase protection.
• Arrange pre-court visits and make sure those experiencing stalking remain safe in court.
We are not currently taking self-referrals for this service. If you are experiencing stalking, here are some resources:
• National Stalking Helpline - call 0808 802 0300 click here to visit the website
• Derbyshire Police
• Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service
• Protection Against Stalking
• The Cyber Helpline
• In an emergency always call 999
If you are a professional and want to know more about this service, please get in touch here.