Walking 100 miles for domestic abuse victims

Walking 100 miles for domestic abuse victims!

Find out more about us here: http://flagdv.org.uk

It isn't as simple as "Just Leave". It takes a great deal of courage to leave someone who controls and intimidates you. For people who experience domestic abuse there are many barriers that they face to prevent them from leaving. On average, it takes a woman 7 attempts to leave an abusive relationship. One of the main reasons they don’t leave is fear. Fear that is founded in the all too painful reality of their situation. 

What will their abuser do to them if they leave? Where will they go? What will happen to their children, pets or home? What will people think? Will they be believed?

Victims of domestic abuse are often isolated away from friends and family. They don’t know who they can talk to and how to access help. At times that fear can be so overwhelming that it feels “easier” to stay.

Fear can cripple all of us, and cause inaction even when our life depends on it. No one is immune to fear, and it can have its place in our lives to keep us safe. But no one should feel so afraid of the unknown that they hold back from getting the help they deserve. 

I am undertaking a walking challenge with my friend to not only raise some vital funds for our charity but to also encourage us all to be the vocal advocates people experiencing domestic abuse need to find the bravery they need to step safely away from the abuse. We are walking along the River Kennet and Avon, from Reading to Bristol. 

Please support us in our mission to free people from the fear of leaving domestic abuse. You can make a difference by donating today to FREE LEGAL ADVICE GROUP FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (FLAG DV).

As CEO of FLAG DV I can assure you that every single donation will help support the valuable work we do. 

Who is FLAG DV? What do we do?

Free Legal Advice Group for Domestic Violence (FLAG DV) is a charity (CIO 1154070) established in October 2013. The organisation was established to to fill the gap left by the reduction in Legal Aid services.

Flag DV is a charity that helps people experiencing domestic abuse or violence with access to a specialist free legal advice appointment. These are facilitated by family law solicitors who offer their time as pro-bono services. This service is for anyone, in Thames Valley and now expanding into Wiltshire and Hampshire, who is experiencing domestic abuse over the age of 18, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race or religion.

We know that having unanswered legal questions can prevent victims of domestic abuse from taking action and can lead to them staying in the abusive situation even as it escalates. Our aim is to enable people to make informed decisions that look to help remove them & their families from abusive and dangerous situations.

Why do we need your help?

Demand for our service has more than doubled over the last two years. Like many other charities, during the pandemic a very healthy stream of funding came our way to help support the organisation out of the crisis and to enable us to move to a remote support system. This included money for an incredible custom cloud-based case management system that has enabled us to scale up and streamline our support as well as recruit additional staff members to support our clinics. But as we move to a new normal, that rush of funding that many saw entering the sector at the beginning of the pandemic is now becoming a smaller trickle, with many funders reporting a higher than expected response to the funds. 

While the revenue streams are slowing down the request for support continues to increase. The complexity of the cases coming through our service is ever increasing as people continue to struggle to find clear access to services or even know where to go for support. FLAG DV utilised their local knowledge of resources to not only ensure clients accessing their service were provided with the legal advice appointment that they needed but also guide them to access other support services and ensure a more holistic network is established to enable a better outcome. 

What does the money provide? 

Your donation will enable us to pay the licensing support for our case management system as well as maintenance for another year. 

Funds will be used to support the current service growth demands as well as provide additional staff hours to allow the service to expand into covering Wiltshire and Hampshire without affecting service delivery in Thames Valley

We are so grateful for your support which will enable us to keep offering our services and will help to sustain our charity. Please remember that your gift, however large or small, will make a huge difference!

Find out more about us here: http://flagdv.org.uk