Bolton chosen for £1.4M SafeLives domestic abuse project

The SafeLives project will be financed with more than £1.4million from the National Lottery Community Fund.

The funding will help SafeLives work with survivors and develop new ways of tackling the scourge of domestic abuse by using survivors’ “authentic voice” to make changes.

Bolton Council cabinet member for stronger communities Cllr Rabiya Jiva said: “Bolton has a strong history of supporting victims of domestic abuse and we are continuously developing ways to improve our system response.

“We have worked with SafeLives previously and benefited from their expertise.

The project will work with organisations around Bolton (Image: Newsquest)

“We are really pleased to continue to work with SafeLives and are excited to learn with other local areas how we embed authentic voice into our local responses.”

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales around 68 per cent of women and 32 per cent of men will have experienced domestic abuse at some point in their lives since the age of 16.

SaveLives says that using population figures from the latest census data, this equates to there being over 44,000 victims or survivors in Bolton alone.

The organisation has already worked with more than 270 adult and teenage survivors to understand their experiences.

One of them is Bolton-based SafeLives pioneer “Jessica” who has used her voice for this purpose.

She said: “It was a ‘wake-up’ moment. The people in the room suddenly saw what it meant to survivors to have their voices back.

“But also, how useful they can be in making things better for other people.”

The project will run for three years and will aim to use survivors’ experience to shape the community’s approach to preventing, and supporting recovery from, domestic abuse.

It will also put local organisations around Bolton at the heart of the response to domestic abuse in the borough.

As well as Bolton, Leicestershire and Sheffield have also been chosen as pilot areas for the scheme.

SafeLives also says that a return of between £1.71 and £13.32 is made for every £1 invested.

Director of quality of quality and innovation Jo Silver said: “Domestic abuse is endemic in the UK. For individuals, families, communities, and wider society, the consequences are devastating.

“We are grateful to National Lottery players and The National Lottery Community Fund for helping us to put survivor voice at the heart of domestic abuse responses.”

“We believe victims and survivors should have their voices heard, be supported to tell their story and be at the centre of lasting change.

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“People who have been in an abusive relationship have a kind of knowledge that only comes from living through it, expertise by experience.

“We call this ‘Authentic Voice’.

“At SafeLives, Authentic Voice means survivors are central to the design and delivery of services.

“The results are transformative for survivors’ recovery and for the community as a whole.

“We look forward to working with survivors, services and communities across Bolton, Leicestershire and Sheffield to bring this transformation to life.”