Exciting news…

We’re thrilled to announce that Hafan Cymru, the Wales-based registered housing association with charitable purpose, has joined the UK SAYS NO MORE campaign as an official partner.

Defined by the slogan ‘Preventing Abuse, Promoting Independence’, it’s clear that Hafan Cymru’s ethos is remarkably similar to ours, with both teams dedicated to ending abuse and violence and promoting healthy relationships – because after all, we’re #GoodTogether. 

Here’s a little more about them:

A Little About Us

Hafan Cymru is a registered housing association with charitable purpose that provides housing and support to women, men, their children and young people across Wales. Hafan Cymru offers a package of support provision to help people with a wide range of needs, often complex or multiple needs – including those who have experienced physical, sexual or psychological abuse; those recovering their mental health; ex-offenders; substance misusers; care leavers. We primarily work with those escaping domestic abuse, helping them regain their independence and live well.

We provide a wide range of help and support that focuses on the role that healthy relationships play in people’s lives and welcome everyone. Here’s just a couple of the services that we currently run in Wales include:

• Hafan Cymru’s Domestic Abuse related services that support women, men and their families who need help to break out of all forms of abuse.

• Men’s Sheds is a project that supports men to get together to form local community groups that contribute to overcoming isolation and loneliness

• The Spectrum Project delivers training in schools to help children understand the importance of healthy relationships in their lives and how to keep themselves safe.

• Hafan Cymru provides housing and support for vulnerable people with a range of complex needs such as mental health issues, learning disabilities, drug and alcohol issues to maintain healthy relationships and live well.

• Hafan Cymru Training Services offer first class comprehensive training. Our bespoke training packages are relative to individuals and organisations and can be tailored specifically for your needs. Our team of qualified and accomplished professional trainers can deliver courses at your workplace, at a venue of your choice or at our own facilities.

Our Client Roadshow

Hafan Cymru held 3 Client Roadshows across Wales, 2 in the North of Wales and 1 in South Wales. Here are some quotes from our clients.

“Hafan Cymru is a charity that’s very close to my heart, and has done a lot for me and for my family” – Swansea

“The venue was fab, the activities for adults and children were great, and the Powys gang, my gang, all enjoyed ourselves” – Swansea

“I had great day at Rhyl yesterday and great fun and support, I even won first prize of £30 in the raffle. You all do a good job keep up the good work” – Rhyl

The Good Together Campaign

When you’re in a relationship you often find that when things are working you say “we’re good together”. Hafan Cymru is trying to get people to think about the healthy relationships that make people #goodtogether. To get people into the mindset of what a healthy relationship looks and feels like, we’re launching the Good Together campaign.

Relationships are all around us. Knowing you’re “Good Together” is a feeling you can have with friends, with work colleagues or teammates, with partners and other family members. It’s that feeling when you know you’re safe, respected and you both have realistic expectations of each other.

The Reason Behind the Good Together Campaign

The reason that Hafan Cymru is launching the campaign in the rugby season is that shockingly, studies have shown that in South Wales instances of reported domestic abuse increase by around 76% when Wales play England in the Rugby. Across the UK when a home team is playing rates of domestic abuse rise by 25%. Clearly, there’s something wrong there! Are we in healthy relationships if this is happening? People should be able to enjoy themselves, watch the rugby and feel safe.

A Blog from our Client

While watching the “good together” video, the message it really hit home for myself was that so many people that are locked into toxic relationships, for various reasons. I think as a survivor of domestic abuse, when in that situation, we try to make our reality more bearable or palatable, by telling ourselves “but they’re not all bad” and we mentally list their numerous “good qualities” but the truth is probably that we’re all good and we’re all bad, that doesn’t mean you’ll be… “good together”.

In the years that Hafan Cymru has supported me, I’ve sat the freedom programme numerous times and this has always been done in a group setting.

It’s a deeply emotional process for lots of us, because when we put most of our relationships under that kind of microscope, a lot of us realised that we’d never really had a healthy relationship, where there’s a shared respect free from manipulation and we had experienced love without expectation.

For me, it was an especially emotional process, the last time we did this last year, I realised that I had a pattern of abusive relationships and unhealthy attachments, and because I’d too been abusive, not violently but emotionally so?

Also being a close knit community, some of us knew each other outside of the group, and knew the partners of some of us receiving support, and it struck me that just like me, perhaps these people weren’t entirely bad people, but that like myself they never learnt to love correctly, with respect, free from manipulation?

Perhaps we confuse love with obsession, and the sense of entitlement? This campaign ad made me realise perhaps I know nothing about love. Nothing whatsoever. But I need to work on myself too, that just as I deserve respect from my partner, I need to give it too, I deserve to make my decisions and so do they. I can’t expect qualities from others that I’m unable or unprepared to return. So for now I’m going to work at being better on my own, for myself and my children, if ever I’m to find somebody to be “good together” with…

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For more information on Hafan Cymru, head to their website.

We’re looking forward to working with Hafan Cymru throughout the year!

Like them on Facebook or give them a follow on Twitter.

 

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