6 - Helping a lady escape domestic abuse - March 2020


This week we have been pleased to have been able to offer some support to a lady (who we will call J)  who has been in a dreadful situation and is looking to find some escape for herself and her children.  We are giving £500 to J & her children in the hope that it makes the journey she is embarking on just a little bit easier.

Her nominator has told us that for many years J has been abused like a modern day domestic slave and been denied any chance of a normal life and the normal things that make us happy.
She has decided to take the huge decision to leave, with her three young children. It's going to be immensely hard to be a single parent and cope with the backlash from leaving. The children will be uprooted, there will be a long time in temporary, insecure, changing accommodation with unfamiliar, minimal furniture and bare minimum benefits to survive on.
J will have to learn how to do everything for herself, having never previously been allowed any independence or autonomy.
The children are going to have to leave their home, they will have to learn to go without. They will each need so much love, reassurance and support from J at a time when she will be facing new demanding daily challenges from all directions.
Her situation is so bad she has actually chosen to make this challenging upheaval rather than to continue any more with life as it is.
J is being supported by a local community charity who in the absence of her having any bank account have taken responsibility for our donation.  This money will go a small way to making her feel supported, to give her a tiny bit more financial control in these early days and to help face the immense emotional challenges ahead.
I have asked the nominator to let us know if there is anything practical J might need once she is in permanent accommodation as I know some people have unused items they might be happy to pass on.
We are pleased to be able to offer our support to J & her children. What she is embarking on will have taken enormous courage and we wish her & her children well.

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