Wiltshire domestic abuse charity secures 'game-changing' funding
Over £700,000 is going to FearFree, from the National Lottery Community Fund
A Wiltshire-based domestic abuse charity has secured 'game-changing' funding from the National Lottery Fund to tackle domestic abuse in the South West.
FearFree are to receive £706,659, which will fund a programme aimed at getting people affected by trauma back into work and education.
The Education, Training and Employment (ETC) programme, the first of it's kind, will be open to both suvivors of domestic abuse and those who've overcome their own harmful behaviour, providing a bespoke journey for people on the programme.
CEO at FearFree, Claire Marshall, said they are "absolutely ecstatic" about the funding, saying that helping people recover from abuse and to rebuild their lives is "incredible".
"It's trauma informed," she told Greatest Hits Radio, adding: "It has an understanding of what those people have experienced."
The charity believes that to break the cycle of abuse, we must tackle all aspects of it, which means supporting perpetrators as well as the abused and it's hoped that this unique programme will help everyone move forward.
Giving people control back
By integrating all those affected back into work and education, people who've suffered from abuse can regain control of their lives.
Claire explained to us that many people go on a journey to find out who they are after abuse.
"They've been in survival mode for so long and in trauma mode for so long and and some people haven't had control over their over their lives.
"They've not only been abused physically, but they've been abused mentally and been controlled, so it's about finding out who you are again and and having a vision of the future."
She added that the legacy of the programme will be that once recovering from abuse, people aren't returning to that place and repeating the experience, allowing them to change the rest of their life.
"It's an absolute game changer."
There's hope that it can lay the foundations for a change in the abuse support landscape.
Claire is optimistic that the ETC programme will evidence how people can move forward meaningfully.
"Because it is truly bespoke to those individuals, every single one of those individuals and the journey they will take on this program will be a story for us to tell will be evidence for us to demonstrate and how we can change someone's trajectory in life."
And this will have multiple impacts on people's lives in both the short and long term, but also, hopefully, for generations to come.