SWA Society Without Abuse

In 1974, Jenni Manners (MBE) campaigned passionately that Swindon should establish a refuge for women and their children fleeing domestic abuse. Swindon Women’s Aid was first registered as a charity on 27th November 1974, with the doors to the refuge opening on 25th August 1975 becoming one of the first operational refuges outside of London. Since then, we have helped thousands of victims and survivors to start new lives which are free from violence and abuse. Since 2019, Swindon Women’s Aid (SWA) have been trading as Swindon Domestic Abuse Support Service (SDASS) to reflect the fact that domestic abuse can affect anyone, and help is available to everyone. Today our programmes are designed to both support victims and also to drive innovative programmes to eradicate domestic abuse. Our training and consultancy service offers support and advice to organisations wishing to better support their staff experiencing domestic abuse. Help on setting up policies and how best to engage with victims will ensure that organisations have the right skills in place. We work with primary and secondary schools to help children understand healthy relationships by giving pupils specially developed, age-appropriate. This is backed by staff training and drop-in sessions at the school for local families. Our perpetrator programme – Open2Change – works with those who recognise their behaviour needs to change and helps them work through a programme to understand the impact that their actions have on others and how to develop positive relationships with current or former partners.