Lochaber Women's Aid 2022 Recap

As we enter 2023, we wanted to take a moment to reflect and look back on what Lochaber Women’s Aid achieved and accomplished in 2022. Our team of 9 have worked hard over the last year to run our specialist service and provide non-judgemental advice, information and support to women, children and young people affected by domestic abuse across Lochaber.

Women’s Service

During 2022 our Women’s Service provided both practical and emotional support for 136 women. Support has been service user-led and our specialist workers have been there to assist and empower women to make their own choices and identify their individual priorities. The service provided has been open to all women and Lochaber Women’s Aid has been and will continue to be here to listen, understand and believe.

Children and Young Person’s Service

Our Children and Young Persons Service (CYP) provided support for 64 children and young people during 2022. The support provided has been confidential and discreet and has provided a safe space for 5–18-year-olds to speak freely. The emotional support has been child-led and has taken place at school or in our office. Our specialist CYP workers have been there to listen and provide reassurance.

The Evolution of LWA

Early 2022 saw some important changes in the evolution of LWA.

• In March we launched our brand-new logo which reflects a more modern and colourful look and reflects our growing service.

• In addition to the logo, we launched our newly refurbished website. Our website now provides an informative, user-friendly experience that clearly expresses what LWA do and stand for.

• Throughout March we had refurbishments completed at our office. With bigger and more accessible premises we were able to host more events at our office throughout the year.

Awareness Raising

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Alongside providing crucial one-to-one support we have utilised our expert knowledge to raise awareness in our local community and provide domestic abuse education as a force for change. We have delivered preventative education and awareness-raising sessions in schools and clubs in our local area, contributing to challenging the social attitudes that perpetuate violence against women.

• Starting in January we delivered 5 awareness sessions to second years at Lochaber High School focusing on healthy relationships.

• Throughout October and November, we ran 6 awareness sessions to fourth years at Lochaber High School. These workshops focus on digital-based abusive tendencies including online stalking and harassment.

• In October we attended Lochaber High School’s second Health and Wellbeing events. We saw 400 pupils over three days and ran workshops covering knowledge of domestic abuse, consent and healthy relationships.

• On the 18th of November we attended Lochaber Chamber of Commerce’s Ideas Week and spoke at their Mental Health, Wellbeing and Resilience event to spread awareness for LWA.

Group Work and Activities

As we delivered our service post-pandemic throughout 2022, we reintroduced group work and activities for service users.

During the summer we ran a 5-week Summer Lunch Club and were able to provide 60 children’s lunches and 34 adult lunches for service users. Activities ranged from jewellery-making and seed-planting to scavenger hunts.
Over the October break we ran 6 groups including a smoothie bike activity and a drama workshop where everyone in attendance was provided with a morning or afternoon snack. These groups carried on through the winter with further activities including pumpkin carving and Christmas crafts.
Regular group work throughout the year included a Women’s Service art group, CYP Climbing Club and drumming sessions with Estelle and Sue from Highland African Beats.

Campaigning

Part of the work we do at LWA is campaigning and advocating for Women’s Rights and social issues as a year-round responsibility. Throughout the year we have taken part in important campaigns including:

Connections

We have continued to grow and maintain relationships with individuals and organisations within our community throughout 2022.

• Holding an agency meeting to celebrate International Women’s Day in March allowed us to welcome representatives from health, social work and education and have some great discussions on how LWA can be utilised by local agencies.

• In November we welcomed 5 representatives from local organisations including West Highland College and Ewen’s Room to attend a professionals taster session of Own My Life.

• On two occasions throughout 2022 we received donations from Lochaber Community Fundraising. Their donations allowed us to run African Drumming sessions with service users and will help us run activities throughout 2023.

• There are lots of local groups we would like to thank for their support during 2022 including Lochaber Environmental Group, Fort William Foxes and Corpach Community Store. A full list of our end-of-year gratitude can be found here.

Christmas

We ended 2022 on a high at LWA with a fantastic Christmas. We were overwhelmed by the amazing support and the generosity of everyone in our community.

The 2022 LWA Giving Tree was a huge success with all envelopes fulfilled.
We were pleased to have our LWA Christmas cards on sale for a second year at local retailers.
Our Women’s Service had great success at their Christmas Craft fairs selling their wonderful crafts.
We sold 40 of our Santa Letters which added some magic to Christmas for children in our local community.
In December we took our service users to a private screening of Matilda at our local cinema to celebrate the start of Christmas break.

Thank you to everyone who supported LWA throughout 2022, it is really appreciated as we continue to provide our service throughout Lochaber.

With 2023 being our 20^th anniversary year there are exciting times ahead. Keep up to date with LWA by following our socials and signing up to our mailing list.