West Mercia Women’s Aid
Herefordshire Engagement Project 2022
“We’ve all got different experiences, but are standing together to help these agencies to work together to support everyone”
Focus group participant
Herefordshire Engagement Project (HEP)
What is the HEP 2022?
As part of the Herefordshire Engagement Project (HEP) 2022, West Mercia Women’s Aid is consulting with local people to bring the voices of stakeholders to Herefordshire Council, helping them understand how to best support and engage survivors of domestic abuse.
As a specialist domestic abuse agency WMWA is in a unique position to be a trusted representative for those with lived experience of domestic abuse, whilst simultaneously supporting the development of trust and engagement between stakeholder and local authority. The objective is to increase participation and open up further avenues of engagement and support offered by Herefordshire Council.
The results of this work will be used to inform revisions to the Herefordshire Domestic Abuse Strategy 2019-24 to match the requirements of the new Domestic Abuse Act – don’t miss this opportunity to have your say and be part of changing the way those experiencing domestic abuse are supported in Herefordshire.
What’s happening and when?
Last month we launched our first survey and ran a small pilot consultation – asking survivors of domestic abuse to share their experiences of local services. We asked them to comment
on the priorities in the local plans and to tell us how they feel that those impacted by domestic abuse are supported and how we can reduce domestic abuse in Herefordshire. This focus has helped to gain an understanding of the impact of domestic abuse on people’s lives and their view of gaps in current service provision
We now want to build on that initial work to better understand what is needed for people to feel confident in Herefordshire’s plans to tackle domestic abuse. Over the next few months we will be holding a number of group discussions which will help us to get the best possible understanding of your views and experiences.

Help us build lasting change in Herefordshire
If you are interested in getting involved, and would like to add your voice to the conversation complete our latest survey at: https://n1o2g1kc736.typeform.com/to/X75UfKH5 There is also the opportunity to join in one of our focus groups, register your interest at the end of the survey!
Find out more
For further information please email Kristine.jensen@wmwa.org.uk