Safe Arbour CIC sets up and delivers the Safe Arbour programme, a 13-week education and support group for women with children aged 0-5 who have survived domestic abuse. Safe Arbour is one of the only domestic abuse interventions in the UK that focused on supporting women and their very young children to recover from the impacts of domestic abuse. Safe Arbour became a CIC on the 19th of February, 2024. In it’s first year of operation, Safe Arbour contracted with Islington Council to set up and deliver 2 Safe Arbour programmes in FY 2024/25. Activities involved finding an appropriate venue, finding and contracting with an independent evaluator, recruiting staff, educating staff in Islington about Safe Arbour, recruiting families, and delivering the groups. Safe Arbour attended 33 staff team meetings in Islington including Early Years, Children’s Social Care, Child and Adult Mental Health, and Domestic Abuse Services, to discuss the lasting harm caused by domestic abuse on the mother-child relationship, and how Safe Arbour is designed to mitigate the impact. Staff attending the presentations said they had a better understanding of the impact of domestic abuse, and how to support survivors, as a result of the presentations. Safe Arbour delivered its first programme in Islington from September 2024 to December 2024, with 6 families completing the programme. Safe Arbour started it’s second programme in Islington in January 2025, with 7 families starting the programme and 5 families completing the programme in April 2025. The independent evaluation of Safe Arbour shows that mothers experience a 43% improvement in self-esteem and a 93% increase in their sense of safety. The evaluation also shows that 78% of children under 5 whose mothers attended Safe Arbour showed improvement in social emotional and communication development over the course of the 13 weeks, regardless of whether that child attended the group with their mother, or whether their sibling attended Safe Arbour with their mother. 100% of the mothers participating in Safe Arbour either agreed or strongly agreed with the statements ‘The Safe Arbour sessions have helped me a lot’ and ‘The Safe Arbour sessions have helped my child a lot’. Some quotes from participants are below: 1. We have gained a huge amount of confidence. I realise now that it was not my fault and I did not deserve any of it. I believe I am confident enough, thanks to this programme, to stand my ground and know when to walk away. I know now where I can seek help. 2. This experience has been life changing and I've gained a toolbox of skills to help me through my challenges. 3. through being in the group I learnt a lot about my children and how to speak to them. 4. Thank you so much for everything! The last 13 weeks have been completely life changing for [child] and I. From his first time away from me, to all the healing and confidence building ses-sions you’ve facilitated for me, I couldn’t be more grateful to you all. 5. I particularly appreciated the one to one and bonding time with my youngest son and the safe space to have activities, build memories and have an outlet for myself. 6. You have helped let the light back in

The primary stakeholders for Safe Arbour are the families participating in the programme, and they are consulted before, during and after the programme to ensure Safe Arbour is meeting their needs, in the following ways: 1. The referral form for Safe Arbour asks mothers what they hope the family will gain from attend-ing. These answers are: a. Reviewed before the programme starts to ensure the content will meet the needs of the at-tendees b. shared with the team delivering the programme before the first session c. Shared with the families attending the programme on the first day. d. Reviewed at the end of the programme to ensure that the sessions have fulfilled the goals set by the participants 2. Participants are given a week-by-week breakdown of the activities they will be doing each week, and the topics that will be covered each week, on the first day, and asked if these are the activities/topics they want. Changes are made to the programme at this point if the participants want something different. 3. Throughout the sessions, facilitators check with participants to make sure the environment, content, handouts, and pacing are working for them, and changes are made to the programme as need-ed 4. Participants are given opportunities to contribute to the programme. One mother brought in spe-cial coffee each week to contribute to the snacks, one mother asked to lead on a craft activity as part of the last session/goodbye party, which was well received by all. Participants have the opportunity to bring in materials to support activities, like brining in leaves to do leaf printing, or bringing in empty water bottles to make sensory bottles. One parent asked for the final session to be a pyjama party, which we did, and was well received. 5. Giving participants agency about the programme and opportunities to contribute is not an added extra, it is part of teaching parents what power sharing in a relationship feels like, so they know it when they experience it in relationships going forward. Safe Arbour wrote an initial report after the first group was finished, and sent the report to participants to check for accuracy and to ensure their anonymity was protected before sharing the report with other stakeholders. All participants agreed the report was accurate and safe to share before it was shared further. The second set of stakeholders are the professionals who refer families to Safe Arbour. They are consulted in the following ways: 1. Referrers are asked, on the application form, what they hope families will gain from the pro-gramme. These answers are: a. Reviewed before the programme starts to ensure the content will meet the needs of the at-tendees b. shared with the team delivering the programme before the first session c. Shared with the families attending the programme on the first day. d. Reviewed at the end of the programme to ensure that the sessions have fulfilled the goals set by the participants Referrers are contacted at the end of the programme to find out if they have seen any changes in the family, and if they feel their goals for the family were met by the programme.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration