Volunteers who broke the taboos around domestic abuse across the Eden area and fought for better support to survivors for more than a quarter of a century are being praised and thanked for their work.
The Eden Forum against Domestic Violence was created 27 years ago to raise awareness and gather evidence about domestic abuse across the district. At the time Cumbria Police and Eden Housing were the only services helping victims of domestic abuse in the area, and anyone needing emergency accommodation had to go to Carlisle or West Cumbria. It was later renamed as the Eden Forum against Domestic Abuse.
In 1998 Sue Pickthall was the only Domestic Violence Officer with Cumbria Police covering the Eden area. Few cases were being reported to the police and without a complaint to the police no further action could be taken. Now retired from the force, she remembers people in close-knit and often sparsely populated areas weren’t willing to come forward because of the stigma. “They only thought it was happening to them, and a lot of people thought this is how things should be. They didn't want to break up the children, the family. If you left the relationship, it was fear of the unknown.”
As a result, Sue and her Detective Inspector came up with the idea of pulling together a multi-agency meeting, inviting statutory agencies and the voluntary sector, which led to the creation of the Eden Forum against Domestic Abuse. The local branch of Soroptimists International became heavily involved throughout the life of the Eden Forum.
Karen Teasdale, a Prevention and Crisis Support Officer who then worked at Eden Housing but has recently transferred to Westmorland and Furness Council, was one of those professionals who joined the Eden Forum. “Previously victims had to leave the area but now they can stay here with support of lots of agencies. There's lots of advice and guidance, and we now identify child victims as well as adults, giving them support too.”
The evidence gathered by the Eden Forum, with a report from the then St Martin’s College in Lancaster entitled “The Other Side of Eden”, led to funding being awarded to create safe houses in the former district. And the Eden Forum is credited with encouraging more victims of domestic abuse to come forward and seek help, when previously reporting rates were very low.
Sue Pickthall feels the Eden Forum ended a lot of the taboo around domestic abuse in the area. “We have helped to bring it out from behind closed doors, because there's more awareness of it now. There isn't quite the stigma that there was - because there certainly was. Certainly because of what we did, there's greater awareness. More people knowing, much better support.”
New figures from Cumbria Police show that in 2024, 542 domestic abuse crimes were reported in Eden, which accounts for 8.5% of all domestic abuse crime in Cumbria in the year.
Councillor Judith Derbyshire, the Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services, has responsibility for domestic abuse and homelessness at Westmorland and Furness Council, and was also a past member of the Eden Forum. She paid tribute to its work to better support victims, raise awareness and reduce stigma. “Without a doubt, the Eden Forum against Domestic Abuse succeeded in its ambitions to encourage more victims to come forward and in providing ‘grab bags’ for people needing to leave home in a hurry. Their work to commission ‘The Other Side of Eden’ was instrumental in securing funding for the first safe houses in Eden, so local people no longer had to relocate away from their area if they needed to be rehoused. The Eden Forum mixed dedicated professionals and volunteers including the Soroptimists who did a lot of good work.”
The Domestic Abuse Act in 2021 has led to increasing involvement by statutory agencies in tackling domestic abuse. The work of the Eden Forum has now been taken on by the Community Safety Partnership for Westmorland and Furness, another organisation made up of both statutory agencies and voluntary/charity/faith/social enterprise bodies. The remaining funds from the Eden Forum have been transferred to Springfield, the domestic abuse charity, for use within the Eden area for children housed in temporary accommodation due to domestic abuse. Tori O’Callaghan-Lake, the Chief Executive of Springfield, is committed to ensuring the legacy is upheld. “We're really keen on providing the same or if not higher level of support and service for victims and survivors of domestic abuse in the area. Making sure that they still have access to items that they need to be able to flee safely, anything really that that survivor needs.”
Councillor Judith Derbyshire added: “We are very grateful to all the people that have worked so hard. The service is now building on the past and improving further for the future.”
To see a video about the work of the Eden Forum, visit our YouTube site.