Welsh Women’s Aid and Respect are embarking on an exciting new pilot in Cardiff, a cross sector early intervention model – ‘Change that Lasts’ – which aims to deliver and evidence a fundamental change in the way agencies and communities respond to violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.
‘Change that Lasts’ has been created in partnership between Welsh Women’s Aid and Women’s Aid Federation of England to ensure that wherever and whenever a woman reports abuse, she gets the right response, first time.
The ‘Change that Lasts’ model addresses gaps within current approaches and provides a unique response to meeting the needs of survivors, to challenging and changing perpetrators’ behaviour, and to building strong, more knowledgeable and resilient community responses to violence against women.
The model focusses on changing behaviour and practice in communities (‘Ask Me’) and amongst professionals (Trained trusted professional), and enabling specialist support services for women and children to deliver a strengths-based, needs-led, trauma-informed response to women and children in line with the ‘Change that Lasts’ approach.
We are now ready to roll out the first part of the pilot which is the ‘Ask Me’ community ambassador programme and we are now recruiting for the first ambassadors in Cardiff. We are looking for volunteers who are interested in becoming “Ask me” ambassadors who will share the knowledge they have gained with their communities, raise awareness of barriers faced by survivors and be able to respond effectively and respectfully to disclosures.
To be eligible to become an “ask me” ambassador, you will need to be 18 or over and either live, work or volunteer in the Cardiff area.
Ambassadors will be individuals who work or live in local communities who may interact at a range of “spaces for action” such as hairdressers, sports centres, community centres, places of worship and other social groups. The ambassadors will be equipped, through free training, with the basic skills, knowledge and tools to have a short, but supportive conversation with those disclosing violence and abuse, and provide an initial appropriate response.
Our first two day community ambassador training is – running on Tuesday 14th August and Tuesday 21st August 9.30am to 4.30pm. If you are interested in this training, please register at the Eventbrite page https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/change-that-lasts-ask-me-community-ambassador-training-14th21st-august-tickets-47501571479.
If you are unable to attend this training but would like to be made aware of future community ambassador training, or if you have any further questions about the “ask me” scheme, please contact the co-ordinator, Gemma at [email protected].
For more information on the roll out of the ‘Change that Lasts’ pilot in Cardiff please contact our Change that Lasts Project Manager on email [email protected]