More Positive Me Empowerment After Domestic Abuse

Why we do what we do: 

• One domestic abuse related call is made to the police every 30 seconds. Refuge
• It is estimated that less than 24% of domestic abuse crime is reported to the police. Refuge
• For every three victims, two are female and one is male. NCDV
• The police recorded 1,500,369 domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes in England and Wales in the year ending March 2022, an increase of 7.7% compared to the previous year. NCDV
• 1 in 5 adults experience Domestic Abuse during their lifetime. This equates to: 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6-7 men. NCDV 
• It is estimated that every day almost 30 women attempt suicide, and 3 women die every day from suicide as a result of experiencing domestic abuse. 
• 61% of homeless females and 16% of homeless males had experienced Domestic Abuse – Crisis 
• 66% of survivors said that their abusers are now using the cost-of-living crisis as a way of controlling them further, including to justify restricting their access to money – Women's Aid 

Hello! 

Hi, we are Jeanette & Hannah, and showing people there is life after domestic abuse is our passion. Whether we are creating books and eCourses or delivering workshops and training, we invest our hearts and souls in ensuring that people feel empowered and believe in themselves.  

Our goal? To make sure that anyone impacted by domestic abuse finds the strength and skills within them to lead safe, fulfilled, and happy lives. 

We have over 13 years’ experience in the field working with individuals and teams, helping people find their voice and decide how they want to move forward. We are a survivor-led Community Interest Company.  

How we help 

• We support people with low self-esteem and low self-worth to increase their confidence and wellbeing. 
• We empower people on their journey to heal and get their lives back on track.   
• We share knowledge and understanding of domestic abuse and its intricacies, enabling survivors to make sense of what happened and break the pattern of abuse. 
• We help parents to gain a deeper understanding of healthy relationships, allowing them to role model for their children. 

We work with 

• People over the age of 18 who grew up in a household with domestic abuse.  
• People who have been in abusive relationships.  
• People who have been abused by a family member. 
• People who have found themselves in a supporting role either as a family member, concerned friend or colleague.  
• Professionals, care workers & support workers. 
• Local businesses, organisations & communities around domestic abuse awareness raising.  

What do we need? 

As a CIC (Community Interest Company), we receive no central funding to pay for the work we do, and rely on funding applications, donations and earned income to continue our work.  Due to the cost-of-living crisis and cuts in available funding, we are finding it increasingly difficult to secure regular funding for this life changing work.  Funding applications are time consuming, detailed, and have a low success rate, taking our time away from our core mission of supporting people impacted by domestic abuse. 

This is why we are asking you to donate to and share our Crowd Funder Campaign 2023.  

We have two funding Aims for this crowd funder:  

Funding Aim Part 1 - £19500 - consisting of: 

• Empowerment Course x 3 (at £4k each) - £12,000 
• Grow Together Course (Under License from NDADA (North Devon Against Domestic Abuse) x 3 (at £2.5k each) - £7,500  

Firstly, we are seeking donations to enable us to deliver at least three Empowerment After Domestic Abuse and three Grow Together Courses in the coming year.  This will enable us to support up to 90 adults and improve the future prospects of their children and grandchildren. 

The More Positive Me Empowerment After Domestic Abuse Course is held at venues across the Devon area, facilitated by our Founding Director Jeanette, and co-facilitated by trained employees and volunteers.  

The course supports all genders who have previously lived in a toxic, controlling or abusive relationship with an intimate partner or family member and who are feeling isolated (both physically and emotionally), have low self-esteem and are struggling with setting healthy boundaries. Face-to-face and online group courses are split into genders.  Many applicants will have lost hope of ever having control over their own life or feel unworthy of doing so.  

By attending every week of this course, participants will experience a safe and non-judgemental environment where they can start to understand their past relationships, challenge unhealthy patterns and beliefs, and develop new skills to move on into a more positive future, with safer, more acceptable boundaries in place. 

Each Empowerment course costs us £4,000 to deliver  

The Grow Together Course (Delivered under licence from NDADA) is focused on parents whose children are impacted by domestic abuse. This 6-week course is offered to parents who have completed our Empowerment Course and recognise the support their children need.   

Each course costs us £2,500 to deliver  

Funding Aim Part 2 - £18,000 – consisting of: 

• Part-Time Volunteer Coordinator for 1 year - £12,000 
• Volunteer recruitment and costs for 1 year - £6,000 

Volunteers & Volunteer Coordinator 

More Positive Me recognises the wide range of skills, experience and knowledge volunteers can add to our organisation, strengthening our existing resources. The establishment of a team of volunteers, headed up by a volunteer coordinator would help us achieve our mission and goals, strengthen our connection with the communities we work in, and reach more people.  The volunteer team would also play a vital role in fundraising and raising awareness.  

We are also passionate about enriching the lives of all our team members, and by offering volunteering opportunities, we hope to be able to offer positive benefits for the volunteers’ employment prospects. We also know that research shows that volunteering can have a positive impact on the volunteer’s wellbeing through learning new skills, increasing confidence, building a sense of purpose, and connecting with new people.   

If we manage to raise funds for a volunteer coordinator & volunteers, all course attendees can meet monthly for peer support and creative art sessions to help with ongoing trauma recovery, and to learn skills that help with economic issues.  Peer support groups of this type are commonly requested by survivors of Domestic Abuse.  

What impact do our courses have?  

Testimonial from previous participant and shared with permission:   

Kelly 

"At the end of 2019, I was at my wits end and in despair. I had just had a failed attempt at therapy which was terminated due to my inability to cope with my emotions. Quite ironic I thought as that is why I had reached out in the first place. A lifetime of suppressed trauma had pushed me from cycle of abuse to another. Finally, I hit rock bottom. By chance I came across More Positive Me. I referred myself and began the pattern changing course in January. Jeanette and Debbie gave me something I have never received before from any service. From GP, therapy to social services. An understanding and knowledge and a non-judgmental approach to the trauma I had been through from childhood to adulthood suffering abuse and domestic abuse, and how this has had an ongoing effect on my life, emotions, and life choices I have made. Suddenly I have been handed hope that what I have endured will not always be me. I have the power within me to change these patterns of belief by the methods we have been taught. I did not expect the change to come so quickly. It is as if a light has been turned back on within my soul. I will be forever grateful for the support, encouragement, knowledge, and non-judgmental kindness I have received and the ongoing support and bond with all the ladies I met. My self-esteem and confidence is rising and I look forward to the ongoing discovery of a ‘more positive me’ and future."  

So, what do we mean by domestic abuse?  

Domestic Abuse consists of any combination of the following: 

• Physical abuse 

• Sexual abuse 

• Violent or threatening behaviour 

• Controlling or coercive behaviour 

• Economic abuse 

• Psychological, emotional, or other abuse 

Where the victim and perpetrator(s) are aged 16 or over and are “personally connected” to each other. It does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct. 

(Domestic Abuse Act 2021)  

Thank you! 

Thank you so much for reading about our Crowd Funding campaign 2023.   

We would be hugely grateful if you could share this page widely, so we can reach as many people as possible.  

 If you can donate, any amount will help us to achieve our target and would be most gratefully received.