Make a Change gathers momentum in 2022/23
We’re pleased to publish our impact report for 2022/23, showing the project’s growth and the positive impact on survivor’s confidence and safety.
Last year saw great progress for Make a Change, thanks to the hard work of local delivery partners and the Respect central team. Our impact report shows that people using harmful behaviour are being supported to successfully understand and manage their feelings and actions: 100% of behaviour change participants reported that they could now recognise the signs that they were building up to being abusive and 92% reported that they had learned positive techniques for managing feelings and impulses.
“You gave us a safe place to heal and constant support for every problem we encountered along the way.”
Vitally, partners and ex-partners supported by the Integrated Support Service (ISS) also reported positive outcomes. From the start of their engagement with Make a Change to the end, they reported a 28% increase in feeling confident, a 10% increase in feeling safe, and a 19% increase in feeling optimistic about the future.
“You gave us a safe place to heal and constant support for every problem we encountered along the way. I know we are one of the many families that you help, but it didn't stop you from making us feel like we were your top priority.”
- Survivor supported by Make a Change
Make a Change also supported 29 children directly in the two sites that offer this, and 137 children indirectly (through a parent) across all sites. The final phase of the full behaviour change programme focuses on parenting and the impact of abuse on children – to read more about our work with children, check out our Father’s Day blog.
Self-referral
Make a Change is an early response to people using harmful behaviour in their intimate relationships. The programme is designed to offer help at the earliest possible point, often before other similar programmes can, and ideally before the need to involve a professional agency, such as the family court, social services, or police.
Self-referral is an important pathway to allow access to Make a Change as soon as possible. Anyone concerned about their behaviour can get in touch directly, as long as they’re motivated to make positive changes.
In 2022/23, 35% of referrals received overall were self-referrals, and when split by site, this rose to over 50% in two locations. We continue to find that people who self-refer are also more likely to complete the programme, and 64% of people who completed last year had self-referred into the programme.
“This course was truly transformative for me and it meant that I didn't jump into a relationship once I accepted my marriage was over. The contents reached me in ways that other therapeutic models and approaches couldn't, as it kept me rigorously honest about my past behaviour.”
- Make a Change behaviour change programme participant
Workplace development
Make a Change is informed by the belief that tackling domestic abuse is everyone’s responsibility. Our community-wide approach includes workplace development and community outreach, alongside direct work with people using harmful behaviour and their partners and ex-partners. This helps make perpetrators of domestic abuse more visible in our communities, and supports referrals into the behaviour change programme.
Last year, 430 professionals were trained across Make a Change sites – for 89% of attendees, it was their first training on working with perpetrators. 98% of participants reported that they had learnt to recognise the signs that someone is behaving abusively towards their partner or ex-partner, as well as practical skills to engage with people who may be perpetrating domestic abuse.
“I will be more confident in speaking to clients who may be perpetrators, especially knowing that there is something that can be done and somewhere to refer people to for specialist help.”
- Professional who attended Recognise, Respond and Refer training
We’re grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to make this a successful year for Make a Change, and the team are looking forward to continuing our work with people using harmful behaviours that prioritises the safety and wellbeing of adult and child survivors.
Take a look at Make a Change’s impact report for 2022/23:
(An accessible, plain text version of the report is available. Please email makeachange@respect.org.uk if needed.)