Hear Me

Safer Places exist to help shape a society where everyone lives a life free from fear and abuse. To achieve this, survivors voices need to be heard.

All content on this page is created by survivors, for survivors.

Spoken Words

Unnamed

She is so strong even if she does not know it!

A woman is strong enough even when she thinks she isn’t,

She feels happy to see everyone smile,

You know that you can do things, make it happen and know that you can,

Everything will work out according to the plan,

You have that strength of character in life,

You have the will to face it all,

In life every day is a test,

You have the confidence to face the world.

The slap

The connection is unmistakable

The feeling of the air pressure driving through to your cheek

The sting

The disbelief

The redness

The soreness

The dread

Being startled

Not being aware

The red mist

Never again they said

The apology for making them angry

The fear for the next one

Silence

Love on the Dark Side

I loved you from the start

But manipulation was your art

I gave you every part of me

You made me believe we were meant to be

And gradually become too blind to see

You were slowly destroying me

The occasional kindness is where it starts messing with your head

Like the vicious words are somehow left unsaid

And it must be love cos he did one thing

Despite everything else he did leaving a sting

This is the sad thing with abuse

Once you have served your use

Your chucked away

But still you beg them to stay

Confusion is your false illusion of a man you want to believe

The one who promised he’d never leave

Yet your left in a corner too numb to cry

Lost in your own thoughts just wondering why

Someone who should love you

Can break you in two

Then mock you for not being the person they once knew

Even when the narcissist they turn out to be

Made me lose my own identity

Then one day he left, this time was for good

It clicked two girls were watching me

Who were my priority

I couldn’t let them see another man destroy me

When you move on that’s when the struggle begins

They want to punish you for all of your sisns

I hit some big lows and started to doubt

There was anyone out there who could help me out

Then a group called Triple R came

A blessing in disguise

I don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for these guys

Healing is a process that does take some time

To realise I’m not to blame

And it’s ok to not be fine,

But I’m finally starting to see it’s him and not me

And no matter who I tried to be he could never love me

My love

I hope my love you will change one day

You will see the errors in your ways

I hope my love that you won’t hurt another like you did to me

My love you were so brutal

All I did was love you and you took that love and took away it’s soul

My love I hope you have got clean

And I hope you do actually want to change

The kindest thing I did was to leave you

Because your soul was so tainted I could not help

My love.

I didn’t see you as my love I saw you at the boss of my identity

Because that was what you were

My love I’m gutted to admit you knew what you were doing

I spent so many years believing you didn’t and that was why

My love you shall never be my love again

As I foresaw my fate

I nearly shook hands with the grim reaper trying to be yours

That was my life ahead. Going out in a box because of those hands of yours

My love I no longer loved you because your fear you ignited within my soul burned away

I could have stayed longer if you hadn’t chosen to touch me

I wish I could have stayed ignorant for longer, believed our futures were aligned and never had ended up where I am now.

My love. My eyes became open to your brutal ways and I was no longer dreaming about a happy future

As I lived in a nightmare daily

My love. I wish this was all a delusion. I wish I could be with the man I thought you were

And not have become a victim.

My love. I realised I couldn’t be her anymore.

My love you’ll never be him for me. You knew your ways and you enjoyed your forms of torture over me. You thrived through my miserable existence and you took who I was

My love. I shall survive what you did and I shall bloom into that lady I was always meant to be.

My love. You shall not define me. One day maybe you’ll be good. Maybe you’ll really love someone and not what they can just offer.

Good bye my love. Good bye to who I dreamed you were. Goodbye to the rain. Goodbye to prison and most importantly goodbye to you, my love.

Latest

Gavin’s Muddy May

To raise funds for a worthwhile charity.
Level 2 Course in Understanding Domestic Abuse - COMING SOON

The annual Crime Survey estimates that almost 2.5 Million adults experience domestic abuse each year. In addition, one in five children witness or experience domestic abuse in their childhood. Although it is often an under reported crime, with most cases of domestic abuse kept hidden. The new Domestic Abuse Act 2021 makes prosecuting domestic abuse more straightforward, and offers more protection to those who are being abused, but cases still need to be identified and responses need to be effect
Level 3 Young Person Violence Advisor (YPVA) - COMING OCT 2022

According to the Crime survey England and Wales (2015) 16-19 year olds are more at risk of domestic abuse than any other age group. The YPVA course will give you the skills to support young people experiencing abuse in their own intimate relationships.
Muddy May Mayhem

Our first Muddy May Challenge fundraiser was muddier than we bargained for.

Level 3 Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA)

The IDVA qualification is a Level 3 OCNLR Qualification in Domestic Abuse: Prevention and Early Intervention. The course is designed for adult professionals working with families affected by domestic abuse.
J9 Initiative

The J9 Domestic Abuse Initiative aims to raise awareness of domestic abuse and assist survivors to access support safely by training professionals and members of the community to recognise domestic abuse and respond to survivors. Once J9 trained, the J9 logo is displayed, letting survivors know that they have a safe place to access information and use a telephone to contact support services.
Level 3 Independent sexual violence advisors course (ISVA)

This is a specialists level course designed to increase the knowledge of a qualified IDVA and someone who has been supporting victims/survivors of domestic abuse and sexual abuse for over a year. This course is delivered by Safer Places and we are delighted to have Zoe Lodrick working with us to deliver day 2.
Work With Us

At Safer Places, our team are our most important resource and a real asset to us. Having a highly competent, survivor focused, experienced and resourceful team is key to delivering a high quality service. We are proud of our team and our organisational culture is really important to us. Working for Safer Places is no ordinary job. Every role in our organisation plays a part in delivering on our Mission. We work hard to create an environment that inspires and empowers staff to give their bes
About our Training

At Safer Places we have a range of training courses and qualifications available, from short 3 hour sessions to Level 3 and 4 accredited qualifications.
Contact Us
Therapeutic Programmes

Triple R is Safer Places' main trauma informed Domestic Abuse Programme which has three aims: To enable victims/survivors to recognise the abuse and its impacts on them and their children. To enable them to recover from the abuse and support their children to do so. To develop resilience by building on their strengths and addressing challenges in order to build a better sustainable safe future for themselves and their families We also run a Money support programme
About Us
Mission and Values

Vision Safer Places vision is a society where everyone lives a life free from fear and abuse
Help in a Crisis

If you or your children are in immediate danger, call the police on 999. If you are not in immediate danger and would like to talk to us about your options, call our helpline on 03301 025811. We will provide you with the support and information you need to consider your options and decide what to do to improve your safety and that of your children.