menu

National conference on male victims of domestic abuse

“Surviving Domestic Abuse: Experiences, Services and Solutions.”

One in every six men in Britain will suffer from domestic abuse in their lifetime whilst one in every three domestic abuse victims are male.

There is a growing need to ensure men and their children receive male-victim friendly support and responses from organisations in the statutory, private and third sectors – at a local, regional and national level. This includes ensuring statutory, safeguarding and equality obligations are met.

This is the fifth national conference the charity has held. Delegates will hear from a range of survivors, professionals and academics working across the domestic abuse sector.

They will highlight how you can help ensure male victims and their children in your local community escape. This includes setting up male-victim friendly services and public communications campaigns through to explaining the experiences and barriers these victims face. The academics will also set out their latest research findings.

This is a CPD accredited course (seven points) is available for attendees and the conference meets the NICE Quality Standards on domestic abuse.

Speakers confirmed so far include:

♦  Ian McNicholl (Conference Chair, Survivor and Ambassador, The ManKind Initiative )
♦  3 x male survivors of domestic abuse
♦  Dr Elizabeth A. Bates (Lecturer in Applied Psychology, University of Cumbria)
♦  Dr Nicola Graham-Kevan (Director at Forensic Psychological Solutions & Reader in the Psychology of Aggression, University of Central Lancashire)
♦  Lori Busch IDVA (Charity Manager, The ManKind Initiative)
♦  Marilyn Selwood IDVA (Domestic Abuse Service Manager)
♦  Mark Brooks MCIPR (Chair, The ManKind Initiative)
♦  Dan Bell (Former BBC Journalist)

Sessions will include:

♦  The lived experiences of male victims and their children
♦  Pattern changing for male victims
♦  Running a refuge/safe house for male victims
♦  Running a drop in service and help line for male victims
♦  Female perpetrators of domestic abuse
♦  Societal attitudes towards male victims
♦  Running communication campaigns aimed at men

Who should attend?

Those working in community safety, public health, social services, domestic abuse, the legal system (police, solicitors, CPS, probation), adult and children safeguarding, the health service (including GP’s, nurses and ambulance service), housing associations, victim support, anti-social behaviour, men’s health and welfare, equality & diversity, voluntary/third sector, academics, students and researchers.


Event: National conference on male victims of domestic abuse
“Surviving Domestic Abuse: Experiences, Services and Solutions”

Where: National Council For Voluntary Organisations, (8 All Saints Street London N1 9RL – behind King’s Cross Station)

When: November 21, 2017

Time: 9.00am registration – 4.30pm finish

Cost: (including lunch and tea/coffee):
♦ £50 student delegate rate.
♦ £85 per delegate for (non-housing association) voluntary/third sector/private individuals and              £235 for three delegates.
♦ £100 per delegate for statutory agencies, housing associations and private sector and £265 for              three delegates.

For conference booking form (2017), click here:

 

Family panto returns to Brighton this Christmas

Family pantomime will return to Brighton this Christmas, with a spectacular new production of Cinderella starring a West End cast to be announced shortly.

This traditional family pantomime will take place at The Hilton Brighton Metropole from December 23-27 (no shows on Christmas Day).

Hove based production company, E3, who produce events such as Chestnut Tree’s Snowman Spectacular Ball and The Wilderness Wonder Ball for The Sussex Wildlife Trust, are collaborating with the city’s performance arts college, The Brighton Academy, to produce the show, that producers are promising will have the largest panto cast in the UK.

As part of the production, they will be building a bespoke state of the art theatre with tiered seating and a large stage within the Oxford Suite at the Hilton Brighton Metropole that will accommodate up to 750 people for each performance.

David Hill
David Hill

Founder of E3, David Hill, who will co-produce and star in the Show, said: “Brighton and Hove residents lost their traditional family panto over ten years ago and we want to bring it back. If you are a family living in the city, you need to travel to Eastbourne or Worthing to see a pantomime with your children, so now with three car parks on the Hilton’s doorstep you can come and see our magical show”.

The producers will also be launching a Search For Cinders campaign, a countywide talent search to cast Cinderella for the show.

Families will also enjoy a Festive Christmas Fayre and Market before and after the show which will include Santa’s Grotto, merchandise stalls and lots of hot and cold seasonal food options.

Show’s partners include Juice107.2, Donatello, Oliver & Graimes and McKenzie Associates.

To book tickets, click here:

Preston Park rose garden to be restored

Herbaceous borders in the Rose Garden at Preston Park will bloom beautifully next summer after winning a public vote for their restoration.

Residents were asked to choose between two potential projects after Brighton & Hove City Council secured around £150,000 funding from car parking fees and local developers to be spent in Preston Park.

The proposed projects were restoring the Coronation Garden (the former blind garden next to Preston Manor) and replanting the herbaceous borders at the edge of Rose Garden.

Around 250 people voted and the results were very close with the Rose Garden winning by just six votes. Work on the garden, which includes clearing existing planting, redesigning and replanting the borders and installing heritage benches in the bays, is due to start soon and be completed by Summer 2018.

There’s also good news for those who voted for the Coronation Garden as the council is hoping to have enough funding left over to begin restoration work next year returning it back to a wildflower meadow.

Cllr Gill Mitchell
Cllr Gill Mitchell

Cllr Gill Mitchell, chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, said: “It’s really important that local people are involved in helping making decisions over how money is spent in their local parks, and I’d like to thank all those who voted.

“The results showed strong support for both projects so I’m very pleased that the funding is likely to cover both the cost of work on the Rose Garden and the beginning of work on the Coronation Garden.

“We will continue to seek opportunities to attract more funding for our beautiful and much-loved city parks.”

The public vote and projects put forward are part of the Preston Park Conservation Management Plan, a joint initiative with the Friends of Preston Park and the council’s Cityparks department. The council hopes to attract further funding to support additional projects identified in the Management Plan.

Brighton fans suffer homophobic abuse at Leicester City game

It is four years since the Gay Football Supporters Network (GFSN) published their report on the regular homophobic abuse suffered by Brighton and Hove Albion football fans.

Four years on the problem still remains. Brighton fans took to social media on Saturday to report the homophobic abuse levelled at them by a minority of Leicester supporters.

On a positive note the incident was dealt with well by the Leicester stewards who have been trained in identifying homophobic abuse and by the police who have confirmed that the group were ejected, with one accepting a conditional caution, while another has been charged with the offence of indecent chanting.

A spokesperson for GFSN, said: “This incident serves only to remind us that we must continue to work hard in order to create the environment where people, whether they be players or fans, can participate in football without fear of suffering abuse.”

We applaud the football fan groups such as Foxes Pride who work with clubs to make stadiums more welcoming for LGBT+ fans. We encourage everyone to help us eliminate this problem from the game. Any fans hearing or seeing such abuse should challenge those offending (if safe to do so) or report it to stewards or to Kick It Out through their reporting app.

The clubs and the governing bodies must do their part in continuing to drive home the message to fans that such behaviour is unacceptable and that those who offend will face ejection and prosecution.”

Established in 1989, GFSN is a social network for LGBT+ football fans across the country.  Since then it has expanded into hosting its own national league and aims to take the lead in tackling homophobia in football.

They divide their work into the elements – Supporting, Playing and Campaigning.

Supporting: They help LGBT+ fans across the UK to meet up and socialise with others interested in the beautiful game. This includes social events centred around going to all types of matches and watching the national teams.

Playing: The GFSN league is the world’s only national league aimed at the LGBT+ communities and is open to everyone, regardless of age, races, nationality, religion, gender or sexuality. It currently hosts teams from across the UK including London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Yorkshire, Birmingham, Nottingham, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Bristol, Wolverhampton, Liverpool, Trowbridge, and Leicester with more teams joining every season. They also have affiliated teams from the Republic of Ireland.

Campaigning: The GFSN works very closely with partner organisations including The FA and Kick It Out to encourage a safe and positive environment in which LGBT+ people can watch and play football and worked as part of the diversity advisory group for the 2018 England World Cup bid.

X