Author: Lynne Haigh

As part of the White Ribbon Campaign Yorkshire Children’s Centre and EdShift presented ‘Speak Volumes – the importance of amplifying children’s voices in domestic abuse perpetrator programmes’ on Tuesday 6^th December 2022 at Brian Jackson House. This is an extremely important topic as The Domestic Abuse Act was amended in 2022 to recognise that children in a domestic abuse household are victims in their own right.

EdShift was founded in April 2019 by Ellie Brook and delivers quality, drama-based violence prevention programmes and digital resources to children aged 7 – 16. Their SpotLight Programme was developed in response to the deaths of two children and 14 women, caused by domestic violence, in the first three weeks of lockdown and aims to give a voice to children so they aren’t silenced or ignored. It ensures children know what to do in an emergency, have a safe place to go and also teaches them key aspects within the law and how to recognise red flags in their own relationships.

EdShift works with schools and other professionals linked to the child to ensure they take a trauma informed approach to how they are acting and give them the support they need.

Fresh Futures Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme (DAPP) is a 17-week high risk programme using both group work and 1:1 sessions. It has been running for 10 years and became RESPECT accredited in 2015. The team assess an individual’s suitability for the course before they join the pre group sessions and then the 14-week rolling programme. During the course they are encouraged to learn skills to help them deal with issues such as anger, negative thoughts, and aggression in their daily lives. Men who have completed the course have come back to discuss how it has changed their mindset and talk about their experiences which is a great way for those on the course to engage and see positive outcomes. Fresh Futures also has a Domestic Abuse Worker who is in contact with the victims and ensures they are supported and will notify the DAPP facilitators if they are experiencing any issues outside of the course.  

EdShift and Fresh Futures started to work together in July 2022 and have completed a successful pilot where individuals on the DAPP course were shown the SpotLight exhibition. The participants were encouraged to understand the impact that domestic violence has on children. A lot of the men admitted to being unaware of the effect domestic abuse was having on their children, especially when they weren’t in the same room when the abuse was taking place.

One of the tasks that had a huge impact on the men was the “Power Tower”, the men were asked to fill in a blank brick and write what they would say to their children if they could. They took their brick home and are encouraged to look at it as motivation to continue to change for their children. One of the participants on the course said “The most impactful exercise was when you asked us to write on the power brick – it was like a light bulb moment. It made me think – oh my god what have I done to my children. It was a period of introspection that really made me think – If I could, what would I say to my children and the only appropriate thing I could say is sorry but I couldn’t get the word out.”

The pilot has received amazing feedback from participants and Fresh Futures and EdShift will continue to work together:

• All of the men agreed the most significant impact was seeing it directly from the children and hearing it from the children’s voices.
• All of the men agreed that the session significantly increased their motivation to change
• All of the men agreed that they viewed the impact of their behaviour on their children differently after the session.
• 98% of the men agreed that their motivation to change significantly increased after the session.
• 100% of the men agreed that there was a significant difference in how they felt the impact of their behaviour had on their children.

“My motivation changed because I finally started to see things from my daughter’s perspective and not my own. The impact that my behaviour has had on her and what that might mean for her future is terrifying but that makes me want to change.”

To learn more about DAPP click HERE and to learn more about EdShift click HERE.

We are feeling Christmassy here at Fresh Futures and have several exciting Christmas Campaigns that members of the public can get involved with to help us raise funds for those that need our support over the festive period.

We are so excited this year to have our very own Fresh Futures Christmas Cards that were designed by Sam, a Year 11 student at Brian Jackson College. These are on sale NOW at Brian Jackson House and Jo Cox House.

Our Christmas Tree of Wishes is up at Brian Jackson House and companies can donate a personalised bauble for £50 which will then be proudly displayed on the tree.

Our Christmas Gift Appeal started in November, and we have already had several companies reach out to help us collect gifts. Members of the public can also get involved and this year we are the Huddersfield collection point for the JCI Secret Santa Appeal. All gifts donated will be given to families in Kirklees that need help this Christmas.

On Wednesday 14^th December, members of staff at Fresh Futures will be celebrating Festive Jumper Day and having an internal festive lunch get together. There will be a hamper and raffle prizes available to win on the day.

Lynne Haigh, Fundraising Communications and Coordinator at Fresh Futures said “It has been extremely busy in the run up to Christmas and it is so exciting to have all the different ways for people to reach out and support Fresh Futures. We are pleased that, as a result, we will be able to support so many families and individuals during these difficult times.”

All proceeds raised from our Christmas Campaigns will go directly back to Fresh Futures and support disadvantaged children, young people and their families.

If you would like to support Fresh Futures in any way, then please contact [email protected] and find out how you or your organisation could get involved to Improve Lives and Inspire Change.

Fresh Futures are excited to announce that this year we have our very own charity Christmas Cards. The card was designed by Sam, a student at our Huddersfield Brian Jackson College and was the winner of a competition we initiated with the students across both sites.

Joolz Cooper, Brian Jackson Colleges Art Teacher, assisted with the competition and said “The brief was for students to design a Christmas card to incorporate the core values of Fresh Futures. We had lots of wonderful entries, and the winner and runner ups were chosen anonymously by our Head Teacher, Jacqui Green. The winner was Sam from our Huddersfield site, and the runners up were Kelsey from Huddersfield and Milan from Heckmondwike. Pupils spent time in lessons working on their cards to get the amazing, finished results. They all embraced their designs across several lessons and had the opportunity to use a range of mediums for their finished designs. The winner, Sam, used mixed media and collage with a range of techniques to produce his superb, finished piece. Prizes in the form of vouchers were presented by the Chief Executive of YCC, Mark Farmer, and all staff and pupils are proud of what they have achieved.”

Mark Farmer, CEO of YCC, visited the college last week to present the students with their vouchers and cards and to also congratulate them on the final designs. Sam was extremely pleased that his card was the winning design and is excited to see them go on sale at the Colleges and Fresh Futures buildings.

The cards are now on sale at Jo Cox House and Brian Jackson House, they are £5 for a pack of 10 and all donations received from the sale of the cards will go towards supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people, and their families across Kirklees.

We have been generously supported on this project by Aura Print, a printing company based in Huddersfield. They very kindly gifted us the printed cards, envelopes, and packaging and have been a pleasure to work with throughout the process. Visit their website HERE.

If you would like to support Fresh Futures in any way, then please contact [email protected] and find out how you or your organisation could get involved to Improve Lives and Inspire Change.