What We Do

Community Awareness:
We conduct regular Focus Group Meetings, Seminars, Conferences and Workshops addressed by motivational speakers with expertise on specific selected Domestic Abuse and GBV topics.

We raise awareness and education through motivational speaking at events, our social media platforms; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Short Films, Videos, Table Talk Shows. We also offer screening opportunities to enable the public to watch, gain understanding of the severity and the impact of domestic abuse and GBV on victims.

Our Services

Advocacy

We promote and act as ambassadors representing the approach of Zero Tolerance to Domestic Abuse and Gender Based Violence (GBV). We always aim to create a supportive environment by supporting service users with making difficult/important phone calls, speaking on their behalf if they feel unable to do so, ensuring they have a voice even when they feel most vulnerable.

Legal Aid

Due to the type of service we offer, Legal Aid is available for victims of Domestic Abuse and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) who satisfy the legal aid financial eligibility tests. At Olive Pathway, we help to signpost our service users to agencies in order to complete the relevant checks and advise accordingly. Legal aid helps to pay for legal advice, mediation or representations in court. 

Advice and Information

Domestic abuse and Gender Based Violence can happen to any woman regardless of their age, marital status, immigration status, ethnicity, nationality, career or education background. It includes the following types of abuse: physical, sexual, psychological,  financial and emotional. Domestic abuse can include Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), Stalking and Harassment. Gender Based Violence (GBV) includes Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Forced Marriage (FM) and Honour-Based Violence (HBV) and Human Trafficking. We support victims who may be going through these forms of abuses and violence by advising and providing them with the relevant information they need in order to make an informed decision regarding their situation.

Interpreting

Olive Pathway offers Interpreting service to service users and we recognise however that interpreting is not a one-way process. We work with interpreters and ensure that we adopt good practice and that the interpreters which usually comes from an agency that their staff have the skills required to use interpreting resources appropriately.

Befriending

We offer supportive and reliable relationships to victims and survivors of domestic abuse and all forms of violence. The aim is to reduce isolation and encourage our service users to engage with their local community by participating in activities such as attending mother and baby playgroups, gym sessions, enrolling in a course at a community center. Through this is, it hoped that our service users will gain a sense of personal achievement and that there is a positive impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

Early Intervention Support

We offer early intervention support to women and families experiencing domestic abuse or GBV. Our team is able to safely and effectively reach out and engage these women and provide them with needed support at an early stage and work collaboratively with them, addressing their identified needs before their circumstances get worse. We work closely and collaboratively with other community leaders, faith leaders, multi-agencies and refugees to ensure these women are identified and supported at the right time.

Crisis Support

We provide crisis support to support women going through domestic abuse or GBV. Our Team is able to offer advice, information, advocacy, coaching and specialist support to ensure the risk issues and needs are identified and addressed effectively. We help the women to source for emergency accommodation and support them through the process of moving into a safe refuge, temporary accommodation or B&B.

Risk Assessment

We use a recognised Risk Identification Assessment and Management Model called DASH, the acronym stands for Domestic Abuse Stalking and Honour Based Violence. The use of this model is crucial to understanding what the risk factors are and how they apply in each situation, and what needs to be done to keep the victim safe. High risk cases may require a multi-agency response and would be referred to the relevant risk management panel i.e. the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) or Multi-Agency Public Protection Panel (MAPPP).

Safety Support Planning

We believe that every individual in an abusive relationship needs a safety plan.  The plan we put in place covers some specific needs at different times in the cycle of the abusive relationship. These include: reducing the risk, staying in the relationship and being ready for crisis, planning to leave, after leaving, safety planning for children and young people and resources.

Outreach

At Olive Pathway we believe that women will benefit from confidential practical and emotional Outreach support in a safe place. Our Outreach Team supports women who may still be living with their perpetrators, enabling them to develop strategies to keep themselves and their children safe, whilst supporting them to make decisions about their situation. We also support women who are planning to leave and those who have already left abusive partners to rebuild their lives. Ongoing support is crucial to service users having gone through a lot of trauma and it usually takes a longer time for one to get through trauma. Hence, we ensure that there is continuity in our support provision, and we reach out to them when they can’t reach us.

Signposting to Multi-Agencies

Some women, especially those with multiple and complex needs find themselves having to repeat their stories over and over again or may feel overwhelmed when having to arrange a lot of different appointments. At Olive Pathway we help to organise and coordinate all the agencies involved in service users care, so they can concentrate on the more important stuff going on in their lives. As part of our responsibilities and prior to signposting; we seek consent from the service users and upon agreement; we signpost them to relevant services provided by these multi-agencies such as MHAPP Organisation, Statutory Organisations, Police, Social Services, GP, Primary Healthcare, Specialist Healthcare, Immigration Solicitors.

Referrals to Respite & Safe Refuges

We offer referrals to Respite and Safe Refuges who provides emergency temporary accommodation for victims of domestic abuse with a planned Programme of therapeutic and practical support. 

Out-of-Hours on Call Support

We offer Out of Hours Telephone call consultation and support to new referrals and our service users to provide advice and support. Service users are also informed that there are other emergency services like the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is a freephone 24-hour helpline for anyone going through abuse.

One to One Coaching & Mentoring

Our one-to-one coaching and mentoring within Olive Pathway is offered to our service users dependant on their individual circumstances. This can be over-the-phone or face-to-face in an at least 1 hour sessions within a week through our in-house Life Coach. These sessions are ultimately geared to support and help increase self-esteem, build confidence and better the lives of our service users. In the first session the Life Coach would agree with the service user’s objectives and subsequently discuss the steps taken towards objectives since the last session. Through the 1 to 1 coaching, it is hoped that the service user would also gain increased self-knowledge, learn about self-strength and how to build on them. The sessions are also aimed at stress management and becoming self-reliant.

One-to-One Culturally Sensitive Specialist Support

We work with service users on a one-to-one basis through our inhouse Specialist Sessional Worker, Project Lead and Life Coach and Mentor to devise a robust and effective support plan for their needs and safety plan to ensure appropriate measures are in place for their safety. Our aim is to educate, equip and empower the service users through working collaboratively and in partnership, promoting their voice, rights, decisions and help them achieve their goals. 

One to One Culturally Sensitive & Trauma Informed Counselling Sessions

Culturally Sensitive Counselling is vital in a victim or survivor’s recovery journey. We work in collaboration with qualified and registered Counsellors who have a good knowledge, expertise and understanding of various cultures, customs and traditions. This is paramount when addressing domestic abuse and GBV issues faced by BME women as they need that reassurance from the initial meeting and ongoing sessions. These sessions enable the service users to speak openly in a safe and confidential space, to delve into the underlying issues such physical violence, financial abuse, sexual violence and transmitted sexual health related diseases which led to trauma, psychological and emotional issues affecting their physical health, mental health, confidence, self-esteem and moving on plan.

Training to Statutory Organisations and Community Leaders

We provide domestic abuse and GBV and BME communities awareness training to statutory organisations professionals, community leaders and faith leaders. Our aim to support organisations by working collaboratively, strategically and in partnership to strengthen systems, help to identify, respond effectively to domestic abuse and to ensure survivors receive the best possible support to live free from abuse.