About us
What we do
The Elm Foundation provides domestic abuse support services across the community irrespective of a person’s age, sex, ethnicity, disability, gender identity or immigration status.
We cover the areas of Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire, Bolsover, and parts of Amber Valley. People from outside these areas can access our refuge accommodation, the Derbyshire DA Helpline, our training and corporate services.
We are part of the Women’s Aid national network of refuges, which enables us to find accommodation for women and children escaping domestic abuse across the country.
One of our refuges is fully wheelchair accessible. One of our refuges is a specialist complex needs provision, providing support to clients who have multiple needs. We also offer a male refuge so can accommodate male victims who are fleeing from abuse.
Community and outreach
Our community and outreach service is Safe Lives accredited and supports both men and women to live an independent life, free from abuse. The community team is non-judgmental and solution-focused, supporting service users to rebuild their lives and take back control.
Children and young people
We deliver a range of services to children and young people including those who have witnessed domestic abuse at home, are at risk of abuse or have experienced abuse within their own relationships. We can provide our support one-to-one, in groups, in schools and, when safe, in children’s homes.
Perpetrator support
If we are going to end domestic abuse we must also help perpetrators to acknowledge that their behaviours are abusive. We must support them to make changes so that they no longer abuse, and can go on to have healthy relationships in the future.
The Elm Foundation offers a service to medium and standard risk individuals who have indicated that they want help to change and stop their abusive behaviour. We provide this service through group work and one to one sessions. Our perpetrator program “Changes” also provides safety planning and support to the partners of those participating in the program.
Early intervention
We want to end domestic abuse. Early intervention is key to meeting this vision. We deliver the intervention service “Making Positive Choices” to young people who may be starting to display harmful behaviours in their own relationships, with peers and their parents.
Training and corporate consultancy
Awareness-raising is a key objective for The Elm Foundation. As such, we provide training for hundreds of professionals each year to enable them to understand the dynamics and impact of domestic abuse with confidence. This includes how to recognise indicators of abuse and how best to support victims and survivors. We also offer training in how to carry out risk assessments on victims, and refer them to specialist services appropriately.
Many of our courses are free to access and our paid courses are competitively priced to ensure accessibility. We are a member of the CPD accreditation service, meaning that our training is CPD accredited. We offer training online and face-to-face and can develop bespoke training packages to meet a range of needs.
As domestic abuse is a workplace issue too, we also offer corporate and consultancy work to businesses to assist them in supporting staff members who may be experiencing it.
