Too many people live in fear in their own homes. They are made to feel useless, alone, and hopeless by those who should love and respect them. Even when the relationship has ended, abuse can continue for years and the impact can remain for victims and their children throughout their lives. There are many good domestic abuse charities, but most have to stop their support once the crisis is over due to funding and resource constraints. We want to be there in the long term, help people regain their lives and build new futures for themselves and their families.
The Daisy Programme is a small local charity led by local people. We enable women and men to recover from abuse, build resilience and live positive, healthy and productive lives. We work from our Community Hub and other community venues delivering group programmes, counselling, support networks and social activities, such as art, yoga, creative writing, lunch and book clubs, and our Choir of Hope, to help people connect and recover. Many of our activities are delivered by our ex-clients who volunteer to support us because they know first-hand the difference we make.
Evidence from our service users, practitioners and our own evaluations tells us that the services we provide are significant and life changing. More than half of our referrals are from victims themselves, who are not being supported by any other agency and who heard about us through word of mouth. We exist on a shoestring, but the commitment, enthusiasm, and goodwill of our Daisy volunteers and our six staff, enable us to connect people throughout Breckland and achieve amazing results.
During the coronavirus situation our work has continued, most of it moving on-line or through regular phone calls, live chat, emails or text messaging We have seen a dramatic rise in requests for support, often from people facing much more challenging situations, through isolation, financial difficulties or increased anxiety.
We are always dependent on the financial support of local communities to continue our work, but never more than now. With your support we can give a family affected by domestic abuse the chance to move on. Just £5 will fund our art group or book club for a month. £10 will enable ten people to join a local support group and £20 will enable us to recruit a peer supporter to work with families affected by abuse. Every £1 donated will make a difference to someone’s life.
“I will look forward to the future, and not be controlled by my past.” Maria, a Daisy client