The Jan Foundation

The Jan Foundation is a small charity with big aims that operates in South West Birmingham in the UK. It focusses on community led approaches to tackling domestic violence/abuse (DV). Volunteer mentors are trained to give long-term one-to-one support to women affected by DV. Its work has indicated that victims may have to deal with several of up to 92 separate major issues as they go through the process of DV and that support can help them work through the process much faster than if they go it alone. Among other things they may, need help to regain confidence and self-esteem whilst trying to deal with issues such as civil (family) and criminal court proceedings, agencies such as social services and housing, as well as finding and communication with solicitors. We work alongside a range of statutory and other voluntary sector agencies which refer clients to us and we aim to support the work that they are doing with victims and their families. The Jan Foundation also works on raising awareness of the processes of DV to help family and friends of victims understand what is happening with their loved ones, encourage victims to come forward sooner and educate the community on why DV affects everyone and how they can get involved to actually help combat the issue. We don’t just tell people that we need to stop DV we enable them to do something about it. We are also developing a trading arm which will become an important contributor to our long term sustainability.