1st – 7th June is National Volunteers Week. Charities like ours would not be able to deliver our service without the support of volunteers. Volunteers, like Janet Powers. Janet has been volunteering with Vale Domestic Abuse services for over three years. Here, she explains how she supports our organisation, what impact this has on her and why volunteering is so important:

“I feel grateful and privileged to be a volunteer with ValeDAS, who help so many women to move on from abusive relationships. Three years ago, I phoned ValeDAS when I was returning to my hometown of Barry after several years living in the United States. My experiences in the US had included qualifying at Georgetown University as a Life and Leadership Coach, with a second certificate in Group Facilitation.

On my initial phone call to ValeDAS, I had planned to offer general help in the office, but when I mentioned my qualifications, I was invited to help with the programmes that ValeDAS regularly offer, called Own My Life (OML) and Journey Beyond Abuse (JBA).

These courses consist of weekly 2.5hour sessions over eight to ten weeks, in a small and safe closed group, meeting each week in person.

I’m truly looking forward to the beginning of the next programme, because I know it can be very rewarding in many ways for the participants, plus it’s rewarding work for me, working alongside the main group facilitator who is on the ValeDAS staff.

Some of our participants beginning the JBA programme are understandably a little nervous to join a group of strangers and explore a very serious situation in their lives. I’m happy to reassure them that they will emerge from the programme with a new sense of knowledge and understanding about domestic abuse, empowered and knowing more about their rights; feeling more confident to manage their current lives and looking forward to a better life in the future.

We have received many feedback forms at the end of the JBA courses that testify this.

Many of our participants remark that they were feeling very alone before the course, but when they meet in this safe group, they quickly realise they are with other women facing similar experiences. A great advantage of this course is bringing a small group of women (never more than 12) together in a safe environment, where they can share their experiences with others in a way that they might not have been able to, even with their close friends, if those friends have not gone through a similar experience.

However, within the course, each participant only shares as much or as little as they choose about their own situation. There’s no pressure to open up or speak up at any time. If a woman needs to simply sit and soak things up by listening to the discussions, that’s OK too.

At the beginning of the course, we go into some detail about exactly what is domestic or relationship abuse, including not only physical and emotional abuse, but also the sometimes more subtle actions, such as coercive control and threats, financial abuse, intimidation, isolation, and the added issue for some, of shared children. This can sometimes be an eye-opener, to realise the full extent of abuse in their relationship.

We also look at a question that often provokes misunderstanding by those outside the relationship, and that is why the woman has stayed, which may often have been for quite a long time.

I could summarise those first sessions as gaining a much better understanding of “What the hell happened in my relationship?”

The JBA programme also helps women to gain confidence in setting their own boundaries. Towards the end of the course, we look forward to personal life beyond the abuse, what participants may want in a new relationship, and how to identify relationship red flags.

ValeDAS has a waiting list for those wishing to take one of their courses. If you are interested, please contact the ValeDAS office on 0114 744755 to discuss how you can best be supported.

There are many ways to volunteer at ValeDAS, depending on your skills and experiences, so please don’t hesitate to give them a call if you are interested.”