By Anthea Mustard, CHAIR, TEAM SOUTHMEAD
Despite the inclement wet and windy weather Team Southmead held its Autumn forum on 20th September. We welcomed Dr Mike Peirce MBA, who is CEO of the Southmead Project, to speak on the bracing but critical issue of domestic violence and to explain how it has implications for people as they grow up and live within families and progress through their lives. Frequently the experience can lead to drugs, alcohol misuse and other forms of self-harming in later life.
Domestic violence is covered within the Southmead Community Plan (Chapter 4 – Families, and Chapter 9 – Crime and Safety). We learnt about “the cycle of harm” which ensures that if the underlying causal factors of self-harm are not addressed through specialist help then the cycle of harming is likely to persist through subsequent generations.
The question we as a community need to address is how are we going to deal with eradicating violence in our community so that we are free to embrace the future as fully as possible. Going forward, as Team Southmead develops, it is clear that we have a responsibility to find ways to address the issue of domestic violence with a multi-faceted approach so that the whole of the community feels able and supported to act.
We learned how Team Southmead has been successful in helping raise and address issues for residents of The Woodnook and Port Elizabeth, so let’s build on this confidence and continue to make a significant difference in our community.
We are already developing a support network to help address domestic violence issues. A spin off of this work is our determination and commitment to ensure that we equip every primary school child in Southmead with their own mentor, starting with training and development for voluntary mentors.
If you wish to know more about these strands of activity please contact us and get involved. We owe it to ourselves and the next generation of Meaders!
Contact: antheamustard@gmail.com or 07837 977 086