Wiltshire abuse charity piloting online forum for survivors
It's being led and shaped by the voices of survivors
A Wiltshire charity is piloting an online forum to support survivors of domestic abuse across the south west.
It follow's feedback from people who attended poor support groups set up by FearFree.
The charity's Head of Services, Lydia Little, told Greatest Hits Radio they're excited to launch it.
She said: "This feeds into FearFree's aim across the Southwest to truly prioritise and centre the voices of people using our services. We see this platform as a crucial development."
The Connecting You forum is an additional strand to the process of healing for survivors, on top of the other services provided by the charity. It's after participants wanted a place to continue their recovery and hoped FearFree could facilitate that.
After attending one of the peer support groups, and people told her they wanted a space in which they could meaningfully feed back into support services.
It means this forum is led and shaped by survivors.
Lydia said: "During the pilot phase, the survivor panel will feed into every aspect of design, the resources, the courses and the information available to them.
"We know from an awful lot of research that experts by experience are crucial in designing effective services. This is an area that is currently under represented in terms of lived experience, so we hope to shift the balance."
She added that tie forum aims to underscore empowerment, survivor centred practise and service improvement', with the forums designed to gather information under those topics.
Lydia hopes it can achieve peer-led spaces to boost connection and recovery, allowing people to share tips on getting their lives back on track and develop provisions available to people.
It features dedicated locality groups which will invite commissioners and agencies to contribute and allow participants the chance to respond directly.
The forum is open to all survivors and affected others over the age of 18, both male and female, in the area's covered by the charity.