Quarter of a million pound funding boost for Deeside based Domestic Abuse Safety Unit

Flintshire’s Domestic Abuse Safety Unit based in Deeside has been awarded £249,816 by the Big Lottery Fund to continue supporting survivors of domestic abuse.

DSAU who recently opened the doors to the first refuge in North Wales specifically for men experiencing domestic abuse, will see the funding from the Big Lottery People and Places programme used to continue their Progress Outreach Service, 

Progress Outreach and Recovery Toolkit provides holistic, specialist and innovative activities, including parenting skills, goal setting and assistance through legal and civil justice systems.

DASU’s Sue Monti said,

“Almost 200 people have accessed the Domestic Abuse Safety Unit’s (DASU) Progress Outreach Service in the three years it has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund. An independent evaluation at the end of the project’s second year evidenced its impact was even greater than we had realised. The mental well-being of people who have experienced domestic abuse was a key theme of the research and 6 of the 11 people interviewed by the researcher disclosed that without the provision of the service they would have taken their own lives.

“Almost 200 people have accessed the Domestic Abuse Safety Unit’s (DASU) Progress Outreach Service in the three years it has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund. An independent evaluation at the end of the project’s second year evidenced its impact was even greater than we had realised. The mental well-being of people who have experienced domestic abuse was a key theme of the research and 6 of the 11 people interviewed by the researcher disclosed that without the provision of the service they would have taken their own lives.

“They testified to the importance of having a trusting professional relationship with their Progress support workers who helped them in a number of practical ways to achieve the most positive outcomes from the worst of experiences. They said that most significantly they were empowered to believe themselves valuable and worthy of living.

“We are absolutely delighted that our bid to continue the project for a further three years and to add provision of The Recovery Toolkit programme has been successful. We hope that it will provide many more people with the opportunities to improve and maintain their personal safety and emotional well-being.”

Highlighting the importance of the People and Places programme, Rona Aldrich, Wales Committee Member for the Big Lottery Fund, said:

“Programmes like People and Places are making a difference to the lives of so many people in communities across Wales.

“It delivers on our promise to use National Lottery funding to regenerate and revitalise communities, tackle disadvantage head on and leave a lasting legacy.”

The People and Places programme awards grants of between £5,001 and £1 million for a broad range of community projects.