CHANGE 1997-1998 Annual Report
Convenor’s Report
On behalf of the management committee I am pleased to introduce
CHANGE’s eighth annual report.
For the time covered in this report CHANGE has managed to
operate in a limited capacity without mainstream funding.
CHANGE’s director, Monica Wilson completed her counselling
course in June 1997 and has since been working for CHANGE on a
part-time basis. Despite limitations of time and resources
Monica has been successful in continuing to promote CHANGE as a
training and consultancy agency in addition to exploring funding
options, organising conferences and participating in seminars.
Although CHANGE faces severe funding difficulties at present,
the management committee remain committed to its survival, not
least to preserve and build upon the expertise and respect that
Monica and her former colleagues have established in the field
of men’s violence in the last eight years.
On behalf of the management committee I would like to thank
Monica for her dedication and hard work throughout the past
year.
Sue McLaughlin
Convenor
Director’s Report
This year has been a difficult one for CHANGE as we have been
without any regular source of funding. Planning our future
direction has monopolised most of our time at committee meetings
with various avenues explored and investigated. As yet no source
of funding has emerged.
Funding
We began the year with an application to the National Lottery
Charities Board under the New Opportunities and Choices round
for Voluntary Sector Development. This was a time-consuming
process and I would like to thank Val Simpson, CHANGE Treasurer,
for her tireless help in drafting, redrafting and finalising the
submission application. This was sent in early April and in July
we had an interview with an assessor. Sadly in August we heard
that our application had been unsuccessful.
We continued to make enquiries about funding from the Scottish
Office and have exchanged correspondence over the last 12
months. The year ended with our drafting a business plan to
submit for consideration and we await the outcome from that.
CHANGE Programme Manual
Following acceptance for publication of the manual by Russell
House Publishing in Dorset, David Morran and I had a series of
meetings with their editorial advisor and had to undertake some
substantial reworking of the material. This was accomplished by
the end of the summer and the published version Men Who Are
Violent To Women was released in November. This is now being
used by CHANGE to promote training for other agencies.
Training
CHANGE continues to receive enquiries from many agencies
expressing interest in developing men’s programmes, particularly
probation services in England and Wales. During this year the
Network to Prevent Violence and Abuse in the Home, a
multi-agency forum in the States of Jersey, was the only agency
to contract CHANGE to undertake consultancy and training for
them. This involved advising on organisational issues; assisting
in short listing, interviewing and selection of candidates; and
intensive training in programme facilitation for six staff. This
process took place over a period of some months, with training
being delivered in Jersey during November. A member of the
probation team and a member of staff from the local women’s
shelter also participated in the training. Excellent feedback
was received from participants who were asked to complete an
evaluation form. By the end of this year Jersey had its first
men’s programme up and running.
Input to Social Work training courses contined this year with
half-day seminars being undertaken for students at Edinburgh
University (26 May 1997) and Glasgow University (23 January
1998).
On 25 November CHANGE was asked to undertake a training seminar
alongside a representative from Dundee Women’s Aid for Justices
in Perth. They were a very receptive audience and plan to liaise
with social work about improving their sentencing practice in
this area of offending.
Conferences
The eleventh meeting of the Practitioners’ Network hosted by
Cleveland Domestic Violence Forum was held in Durham in June and
I attended on behalf of CHANGE. Ellen Pence from the Domestic
Abuse Intervention Project in Duluth, Minnesota was a guest and
gave three very stimulating workshops.
In November, CHANGE hosted the twelfth network meeting at the
Golden Lion Hotel in Stirling. This involved a great deal of
planning and organisation with 57 people eventually attending
the two-day event. As well as organising the meeting I undertook
a workshop using one of the exercises developed for use in the
men’s programme.
Throughout the year I was involved in the planning of a joint
conference on domestic violence and the criminal justice system.
An organising group comprising individuals from Universities,
the Edinburgh Domestic Violence Probation Project, CHANGE and
Scottish Women’s Aid invited speakers from all areas of the
Criminal Justice System and related agencies to share a platform
and address the issue of developing good practice over domestic
violence. The conference was held on 6 March at the John
Macintyre Centre at Edinburgh University and attracted an
audience of 100 plus. David Morran introduced the day and
Roseanna Cunningham MP chaired the proceedings. These comprised
contributions from Women’s Aid, the Police, the Procurator
Fiscal Service, a Sheriff, men’s programme staff, academic
researchers and a local authority officer. GEESE Theatre Company
performed an interactive improvised play on the theme of the
dilemmas women face when confronting agencies of the justice
system. The conference report, which I collated on behalf of the
organising group, is available from CHANGE at £2.00 a copy.
Future Plans
At present we await the outcome from the business plan which
will be submitted to the Scottish Office in early May. We will
continue to advertise training and consultancy and to develop
various training packages.
Monica Wilson
Director
