Legal Advice:
Most solicitors will offer 20-30 mins. Free legal advice on any family matters – divorce, child contact or financial settlements. If you go to: www.Rightsofwomen.org.uk they have a free legal helpline offering free information and guidance from trainee barristers. They are an excellent source of information and they have lots of easy to understand guidance on their website about domestic abuse and divorce.
Freedom Programme:
This is an online programme aimed at helping you recognise tactics of domestic abuse so you can protect yourself in future. For anyone currently struggling to understand their abusive relationship or coming to terms with the impact of domestic abuse, this programme is for you. The Freedom Programme is the bedrock of domestic abuse recovery and breaking the cycle of abusive relationships. You can sign up online for £10 and complete the workbooks as and when you are able to: www.freedomprogramme.co.uk
I am a trained Freedom Programme facilitator and can help you understand your situation by incorporating this into your coaching sessions.
Depending on where you live there may also be free Freedom support groups you can join. Most don’t need a referral and this is an excellent way to get support from women in similar situations to yourself. These groups are confidential and there is no judgement about your relationship or the choices you make.
Domestic Abuse IDVA Services:
IDVA’s are Independent Domestic Violence Advocates. We are trained professionals and our focus is always the victim of domestic abuse. We are trained to assess any risk of harm or potential harm and can provide comprehensive safety planning to ensure you are protected. IDVA’s work with a range of professionals – social care, housing officers, police, drugs/alcohol agencies and mental health services to name a few to provide the wrap-around support many victims need during crisis situations.
IDVA services are free and confidential and there will be one in your area – just ‘Google’ domestic abuse support and the relevant service will come up or call the National DV Helpline : 0808 2000 247 Unfortunately it is a bit of a postcode lottery as to what services are available in each area of the UK, as many IDVA services struggle for funding, but if they can’t support you they should be able to signpost you to someone that can.
For Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and South Buckinghamshire it is www.thedashcharity.org.uk They provide a range of support to help you and your children – you can also call the Helpline on : 01753 549865
Social Media Support:
I regularly share tips on my Instagram page :https://www.instagram.com/caronkippingcoaching/and on my Facebook page, so check them out: https://www.facebook.com/caronkippingcoaching and have lots of resources and professional contacts to help you during and after separation and don’t forget to sign up to the monthly newsletter – just go to the front page on this website!
