Vesta - Specialist Family Support CIC

We worked closely with the Institute for Addressing Strangulation to prepare posters with information about strangulation in Polish. The information is primarily based on their guidelines and resources. ​ We covered 5 topics: ​ 1) What is strangulation? 2) What can I do if I've been strangled? 3) Symptoms of strangulation - physical and emotional 4) What is sexual consent? 5) Where can I seek support? You can find all posters here along with the English translations. The initiative was funded by Manchester City Council. #strangulation #Polish #duszenie

On 22 January 2024 we are starting the delivery of the Nurturing Programme for Polish parents and carers in Bedfordshire. We are accepting the referrals to the programme now! The Nurturing Programme is an evidence-based 10-week course for parents and carers that improves the emotional health of both adults and children and strengthens family relationships. ​It is based upon four constructs or building blocks: self-awareness, appropriate expectations, positive discipline and empathy. Over the 10-week programme participants will look at lots of different topics, including: Understanding why children behave as they do Recognising the feelings behind behaviours (ours and theirs) Exploring different approaches to discipline Finding ways to develop co-operation and self-discipline in children Learning the importance of looking after ourselves The 10-week programme was created by child psychologist Dr Stephen J Bavolek and is being further developed by Family Links, a national charity promoting families' emotional health and well-being. We adapted the course content to Polish and delivered it in Polish for the first time in the North West region of England. The programme is aimed at parents and carers of children aged 3 to 12 years old. We are accepting referrals to the course now – you can find the referral form on our website. The project is financed by the National Lottery Community Fund. #PolishParents #PolishFamiliesBedfordshire #PositiveParenting

Ewa Wilcock Domestic abuse is a global issue and just over a quarter (27%) of women worldwide who have been in a relationship report being subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner (WHO, 2021). There is a variety of data sources relating to violence against women and girls in the UK, with the Crime Survey of England and Wales being the primary one. It offers details about the victims’ sex, age, ethnicity, marital status, disability, employment status, and area. What can I learn specifically about Polish people who experience abuse in the UK from the available data? ‘Nothing!’ This is because the client’s nationality or country of birth is not consistently recorded by agencies. The nationality of victims is shown in the Femicide Census, and this is the first time we see what happened to Polish women. The data from 2009 to 2020 shows that Polish women constitute the largest group of victims after British women and there was almost three times the number of Polish victims as the next most represented nationality. The Census also shows that after Poland (34 victims) other most represented countries of birth are Latvia (12), Romania (11) and Lithuania (10). These women are entirely hidden in the statistics as they are placed in the “white-other” category along with a mass of other white women who are non-British. It is particularly concerning for us because, despite the fact, that Polish people constitute the largest minority group in the UK (the most common non-British nationality in the UK since 2007, ONS, 2021) their needs and specific issues affecting families are not adequately recognised and addressed by agencies. Vesta SFS CIC have been supporting Polish victims of domestic abuse since 2014. We set up the first Polish Domestic Violence Helpline in the UK and operated it until 2018 but couldn’t keep it going because of a lack of funds. There is now a helpline for Polish female victims run by Opoka now – 0300 365 1700. We work with families experiencing complex issues: domestic abuse, problems with mental health, parenting difficulties, or addictions. Addressing these problems by offering specialist services to agencies supporting Polish clients including, domestic abuse awareness and recovery programme for women, course for perpetrators of domestic abuse, parenting course, counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy, courses for British professionals about effective working with Polish families and free resources in Polish and English. We know that domestic abuse is a hidden problem in the Polish community and victims face a variety of barriers to reporting it including, language barrier, fear of Social Services, no knowledge of support options, social isolation, or financial difficulties. We also know that Polish people report abuse when the situation is profoundly serious and dangerous. Over 50% of victims who contacted our helpline were classified as high-risk victims which means that there was a threat of serious harm or death. Almost 80% of women who were classed as high-risk victims also had children. The analysis of risk assessments completed with clients also showed us that 73% of perpetrators had police involvement in the past in the UK or/and Poland. It is concerning those previous problems with the police do not deter perpetrators from committing further domestic abuse offences. The ease of moving undetected from area to area or from the UK to Poland can add to perpetrators’ feelings of “being above the law.” The support agencies often see the removal of the perpetrator from the family home as the solution to the problem. In the context of domestic abuse in Polish families this in fact can be a major risk factor. Polish perpetrators who have no family or friends here can become homeless, abuse alcohol/drugs, their mental health will deteriorate, they can start harassing the victim, and use contact with children to continue with the abuse. Polish women often lack knowledge about civil protective orders and might be overwhelmed by the guilt of ‘breaking the family’, and so might be more vulnerable to giving in to perpetrators’ demands. Our recent work on several domestic homicide review panels involving Polish families also revealed to us those victims were killed with severe brutality. In June, this year a report from the first UK-wide research was published – “Polish women’s experiences of domestic violence and abuse in the United Kingdom” Zielinska, I., Anitha, S., Rasell, M. and Kane, R. (2022). It is a long-coming study that helps us to fill the gap in our knowledge and understanding of domestic abuse in the UK’s largest minority group. It contains a lot of useful recommendations for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. Domestic abuse affects all women but the experiences of women from Poland will differ from the experiences of other women because of their migration history and settlement in the UK, understanding of domestic abuse shaped by their Polish background and barriers they face in reporting abuse and accessing support services here. Only when we fully understand these issues, we can support them more effectively to minimise the risks to them and their children. The blog was published on the Domestic Abuse Commissioner's website in December 2022 - https://domesticabusecommissioner.uk/blogs/specialist-support-for-polish-survivors-of-domestic-abuse/

The project is delivered as a partnership between Vesta – Specialist Family Support CIC and Europia, a charity based in Manchester offering practical community and well-being projects as well as providing free welfare advice, legal surgery, and immigration advice. ​ We offer specialist support to Polish victims/survivors of domestic abuse in Manchester to ensure that they are safe in their homes. It is offered to men and women.​ We are concerned that Polish people, despite the fact that they constitute one of the largest minority groups in Manchester, are overlooked by services and their needs are not sufficiently met. They face a lot of barriers in accessing specialist services – language barrier, fear from statutory agencies, lack of knowledge of the system, isolation and financial difficulties. ​ The following services are offered to clients living in Manchester: Information, advice and support in accessing local domestic abuse services Welfare & housing advice and support Face-to-face consultations Online support group for women Counselling Emergency funding for accommodation related needs ​ To find out more about accessing these services, please visit the pages below for more information: https://www.vestasfs.org/domesticabusesupportinmanchester https://europia.org.uk/support-advice/support-for-polish-victims-of-domestic-abuse/?fbclid=IwAR3_HKnmJncyBVnx4CosMWy8-VePDCh--M3IYxKy7MpFuSykMcwcDP26eGQ The project is financed by Manchester City Council.

Ewa Wilcock Vesta SFS CIC has been supporting Polish families since 2014, working with those experiencing complex issues: domestic abuse, problems with mental health, parenting difficulties, or addictions. We address these problems via the offer of specialist services including domestic abuse awareness and a recovery programme for women, a course for perpetrators of domestic abuse, a parenting course, counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy. We also run courses for British professionals about effective working with Polish families. Our recent projects in Wales raised a variety of concerns about the difficulties Polish parents face when working with children’s services. What are they worried about? Will they take my children? This is the biggest fear experienced by all parents who have to work with children’s services but what makes it worse for Polish parents is a complete lack of knowledge about how the social care system works in the UK. Their views of children’s services are often based on the very negative press this service has on Polish social media, television and in the community. Polish people seek information and advice from their friends, family and the internet in the first instance, not the official British agencies. This is especially true of those who can’t read in English and are, consequently, extremely limited in their access to the official information. The fear of losing children stops them from being open about their problems. But it can also make them overly compliant without having a full understanding of why they need to make changes and whether the process of making them is beneficial to them and their children. For example, Polish parents often agree to social workers’ requests to speak in English to their children during contact sessions although they use Polish at home and can hardly speak English themselves. They have the right to communicate with their children in their native language. How am I going to do all they ask me to do? Polish families remain hidden from British agencies. Their problems escalate over time and, at the time when the services get involved, their situation is usually profoundly serious or dangerous. Unexpectedly, a number of professionals ring them, asking the same questions. They get lost in who is doing what and they are under immense pressure to meet the demands of various agencies. Clients we worked with in Wales communicated that they had experienced high levels of stress related to ongoing work with children’s services. They were not able to access mainstream support provision due to the language barrier or work commitments. Some of the support options suggested did not work well. For example, women were asked to join local groups for parents and toddlers. It might seem like a good idea but, for a Polish woman who does not speak English as a first language and has low self-esteem, it may be a very daunting prospect. As a result of Brexit, Polish people feel much more self-conscious about signs that would identify them as a migrant. Some are uncomfortable about speaking Polish, having an accent, or having poor English. They have a heightened feeling of being unwelcome (Benedi Lahuerta, S & Iusmen, I, 2019). The woman may find that others’ ways of raising their children are vastly different from her own, embedded in Polish culture, and she may find that they haven’t got a considerable amount in common. Who can I ask for help? When we ask the Polish community about the barriers to seeking help, the lack of knowledge about support options is one of the main concerns. They simply don’t know what support is available and they find it hard to navigate through the information about various agencies and the support system. Losing the support from family and friends who stayed in Poland can be a harsh blow for them. Our data suggest that 70% of victims/survivors of domestic abuse felt isolated from family and friends. Polish parents’ cultural views about raising their children emphasise the role of grandparents, close family and friends in supporting childcare needs in the early years of children’s lives. With no family to support mothers here, they often stay at home to care for their children and rely on partners to provide financially for the family. This makes it extremely hard for them to leave and become independent when the problems within the family start to escalate. How children’s services can better support Polish families Based on our experience, we would suggest the following advice for social workers and their managers: Assume that the family doesn’t know anything about your service and clearly explain your role, what you will be doing and how you can help. Ensure that you have an interpreter present in your meetings if families struggle to communicate in English. Preferably, use the same person each time but never use children, relatives, or friends to assist you with language needs. Translate documents explaining your procedures, for example in relation to child protection, into Polish. Translate letters for families into Polish to send to them following important meetings, eg core group meetings, even if family members speak English. It’s likely that they don’t remember what was discussed as it was such a highly stressful situation for them that they struggled to focus. Find out what specialist support is available in the client’s native language and ensure that you have money in your budget for those who cannot access the mainstream service provision. Offering them language-specific intervention early can save you money in the long term. Employ Polish-speaking workers – this is the most effective way of increasing clients’ engagement with your service and making good progress with the families you work with. Be prepared to spend more time supporting a non-English speaking client. You may have to assist them in accessing other services, such as Citizens Advice or a debt service. Simple signposting and giving them leaflets about other services may be insufficient Pass on information to families about English classes in the area. Be mindful of the fact that we do not learn new things well when we live in fear and experience high levels of stress Be more supportive than punitive – if your contact with the Polish family focuses only on investigating the safety of children, this will only confirm their initial fears of your service. The blog was published by Community Care on 10 October 2022 - https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2022/10/10/how-social-workers-can-better-support-polish-families/

Ewa Wilcock The UK Femicide Census shows that Polish women are the second largest group of women killed by men after British women (Femicide Census 10-year report, 2018). What we also know from the Census is that the vast majority of women are killed by their partners/ex-partners. Domestic abuse in Polish families living in the UK is a growing concern among the Polish community and professionals. It remains a hidden problem that can lead to fatal consequences if it is not addressed at the right time. Vesta SFS CIC have been supporting Polish victims of domestic abuse since 2014. We set up the first Polish Domestic Violence Helpline in the UK and operated it until 2018. We work with families experiencing complex issues: domestic abuse, problems with mental health, parenting difficulties, or addictions. We address these problems by offering specialist services to agencies supporting Polish clients including domestic abuse awareness and recovery programme for women, course for perpetrators of domestic abuse, parenting course, counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy, courses for British professionals about effective working with Polish families and free resources in Polish and English. Polish people experiencing domestic abuse face a lot of barriers in accessing help, including language barriers, financial difficulties, childcare issues, or isolation. The strongest barrier, however, is the growing fear from Social Services. This stems from the very negative press Children Services have on Polish internet sites and various media. We see not only stories from parents about children being removed from their care “for no reason at all”, but there is a number of documentaries on this topic available online and on Polish television. The majority of our clients do not understand how the social care system works in the UK and we spend a considerable amount of time explaining the role of social workers to them to alleviate their fears of losing their children. We also asked our clients about their opinion about working with Children Services – 68% of them were satisfied with the help they received. It seems that although the initial fears and mistrust are strong, the quality of support offered to victims helps to lessen the initial barriers. Engagement from Polish clients becomes difficult when they don’t receive the information or support they need. Victims feel immense pressure from services to meet certain expectations but they can’t access mainstream support options because of the language barrier. How can Social Services work more effectively with Polish clients: publish information about your service in Polish on your website ensure that you have an interpreter present in your meetings if the client struggles to communicate in English (never use children, relatives or friends to assist you with language needs) assume that the client doesn’t know anything about your service and clearly explain your role, what you will be doing and how you can help; leave your card with the client translate to Polish documents explaining your procedures, e.g. Single Assessment or Child Protection procedure, Section 20 agreement send letters to clients translated to Polish following important meetings, e.g. core group meeting – even if the client speaks English it’s likely that they don’t remember what was discussed as it was such a highly stressful situation for them that they struggled to focus employ Polish-speaking workers find out what specialist support is available in the client’s native language The article was published by Care Talk - https://www.caretalk.co.uk/how-care-providers-can-support-polish-women-to-report-domestic-abuse/

Conference in Manchester on 16th of June 2022, 9.30 am - 4 pm Join us at the national conference about Polish women's experiences of domestic violence and abuse in the UK. The conference will present the findings of the first UK-wide study on this topic, showcase best practice in working with Polish families affected by domestic abuse, and facilitate networking between professionals. Domestic abuse in Polish families living in the UK is a growing concern among the Polish community and professionals. It remains a hidden problem that hasn't been adequately explored and addressed despite its seriousness and prevalence in the UK's largest minority group. We are delighted that the conference will promote the findings from the long coming UK-wide study about Polish women’s experiences of domestic violence and abuse in the UK. The research project was led by academics from the University of Lincoln and Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw. This international event will bring together academics, experts, leaders, and practitioners from the UK and Poland. It will offer a unique opportunity to hear from representatives of the leading organisations supporting women and victims of domestic abuse in Poland. There will be also two workshops led by Polish practitioners who support victims of domestic abuse in the UK. They will share their knowledge and expertise in the most effective and culturally sensitive approach to working with Polish victims. The conference is aimed at practitioners of domestic violence and abuse, health and social services who work with Polish and other European communities, to support them in their roles. To find out more click here.

From Tuesday next week Polish people living in Wales can contact our new domestic violence helpline. 0800 061 46 06 help@vestasfs.org The helpline will operate during the COVID-19 pandemic We help Polish people living in all areas of Wales People who contact the helpline receive emotional support, information about available options and are referred to domestic violence agencies in their area We also offer counselling to people who experience abuse and to those who harm Our team consists of experienced Polish-speaking IDVAs, probation worker and counsellors The project is funded by the Welsh Government. #VestaSFS #WelshGovernment #PolesinWales #domesticabuse

Vesta - Specialist Family Support CIC runs a new project for Polish adults from Flintshire and Wrexham county who experience difficulties with their mental health. We offer individual emotional support to Polish women and men. We respond to complex issues underlying clients’ mental health problems, such as domestic abuse or alcohol misuse. They receive support and guidance in their native language and they are offered advocacy in accessing local services. The aim of the project is to improve people’s mental health and well-being, increase their knowledge of coping strategies, reduce feelings of isolation/loneliness and to increase their knowledge about local and national support. The service will be provided over the phone and internet by experienced Polish-speaking practitioners. You can read more about the service in our "Funded projects" section. The project is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.

Vesta - Specialist Family Support CIC runs a new project for Polish parents from Greater Manchester who require support from Children Services due to domestic violence or parenting difficulties. Parents will receive emotional support, advice and advocacy in accessing services and co-operating with them to improve the situation for their families. The service will be provided over the phone and internet by experienced Polish-speaking domestic abuse and parenting practitioners. The aim of the project is to improve the well-being of the parents, their knowledge about the British social care system and effective engagement with the support offered by statutory and voluntary agencies. Referral forms can be downloaded from our website, we also accept self-referrals. If you would like to find out more about the service please contact us. #vestasfs #PolishparentsGreaterManchester The project is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.

We are pleased to let you know that we created a mental health guide for the Polish community living in Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire. It provides information about a number of mental health illnesses and problems, outlining their causes, symptoms, treatment methods as well as contact details for the organisations providing support locally and nationally. The guide is written in Polish. It's based mainly on information published by the NHS. The guide covers the following topics: - what is mental health - depression - anxiety - post-traumatic stress disorder - eating disorders - obsessive compulsive disorder - borderline personality disorder - substance misuse - drugs and alcohol - gambling - organisations' contact details You can download the guide from our website: https://51805f24-b0b1-4200-8bd3-5013fdf3391e.filesusr.com/ugd/93f57a_e9da4fa0356f4f2196ffb403c878f2aa.pdf We created the guide as we are concerned about the mental health issues within the Polish community. We hope that it will help people to understand their mental health better and they will be more likely to ask for help when they need it. The project is financed by The North West Wales Community Cohesion Fund.

With Brexit looming, we are looking at the housing rights of Polish people who experienced domestic abuse. A few changes were made last year in line with new immigration requirements for EU nationals who live in the UK. Sue Lukes, a national housing and migration expert updated our guide "Getting and paying for housing". We would like you to familiarise yourselves with it to ensure that you offer the best possible service to some of the most marginalised and vulnerable victims. We are very concerned that a lot of victims are completely unaware of the requirement to register for a new immigration status (settled and pre-settled status). If they don't apply for it before the deadline, it could have a detrimental effect on their right to live in the UK. We would recommend that all professionals working with Polish families enquire about settled status registration when completing initial assessments with clients. You can find an updated guide in both languages on our website - https://www.vestasfs.org/resources ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sue Lukes has worked in housing aid and refugee resettlement but has been freelance since 1996 as an expert in housing and migration and how local regional and national authorities and NGOs can make migration work for the benefit of all communities involved. She co-edits the Chartered Institute of Housing website, trains many local authorities and others, does academic research and develops, facilitates, advises and evaluates projects. She is chair of Music in Detention