ABOUT AVERT TRAINING

Foyle Women’s Aid established AVERT in June 2006 as the training arm of Foyle Womens Aid and further developed Avert as a social enterprise in July 2010 specialising in adult safeguarding and child protection, to meet organisational need and external demand. Avert are committed to providing a range of high quality, specialist training which promotes a positive, preventative and proactive approach to domestic abuse.

Avert are an OCN accredited centre and have already successfully delivered a number of OCN accredited training programmes and is fast becoming a recognised ‘lead provider’ of domestic and sexual abuse training to all of the professional bodies across the North West who work with victims and families who experience domestic and sexual abuse. Open College Network Northern Ireland (OCN NI) is a nationally recognised Awarding Organisation regulated by Ofqual (the regulator of qualifications, examinations and assessments in England and vocational qualifications in Northern Ireland) Open College has accredited Training Courses written by Avert, and all participants who successfully complete an OCN Course will be awarded a Certificate ( Level 1 or Level 3 ) from the Open College.

Avert have an ‘Investors in people award,’ which we received in 2012 – Investors in people standard.

Avert Training is designed for external agencies such as schools, youth/community groups and the workplace, and to professionals working directly within the field of family support & intervention or who work within the field of domestic abuse.

The training programme includes Basic Awareness of Domestic abuse, Models and Theories of Domestic Abuse, Domestic abuse first aid (Dealing with Disclosure & asking the question), The Impact of Domestic abuse on Children and the Mind of a Perpetrator.

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DERRY & STRABANE PCSP SUPPORTS AVERT TRAINING
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The Derry and Strabane Policing and Community Safety Partnership, as well as Causeway Coast & Glens PCSP, are supporting AVERT Training to deliver an educational programme to schools and community groups throughout the Council area. The programme is being delivered to primary and post primary schools as well as a number of youth groups throughout the city and district. The primary school programme supports children aged between 5 and 11 to distinguish between right and wrong behaviour while developing their level of self esteem and confidence. The programme delivered to over 11 year olds aims to provide a preventative approach to domestic violence/abuse by enabling young adults to identify the early warning signs in unhealthy, abusive relationships.

Speaking on the programme Alderman Drew Thompson Chair of the Derry & Strabane PCSP stated,”This is an extremely important programme for the PCSP to support as it provides early interventions to enable our young people to make informed decisions on relationships. Unfortunately our Council area has a high level of domestic abuse/violence and we are hopeful that this programme can go some way to breaking this cycle.”

Tracy Healey, Business Development Manager with AVERT added “We are delighted that the Derry & Strabane PCSP is providing valuable support to enable the delivery of this programme. Through this support we have been able to deliver the training into five of our primary schools and three of our post primary schools and five community groups. The message we are sending out to these young people is that sexual and domestic violence is never acceptable and should not be tolerated.”

WHAT WE DO

AVERT services and training expertise is informed by Foyle Women’s Aid’s 30 years’ experience of supporting women, children and young people affected by domestic abuse. AVERT provides services to contribute to Foyle Women’s Aid’s social and financial sustainability and in order that social partners can work individually and together to address adult and child abuse.

Vision

To help our community gain the knowledge to respond effectively to eliminate sexual and domestic abuse.

Purpose

We contribute to FWA’s social and financial sustainability by:
Ensuring the voices of those who experience abuse are heard and their needs met by challenging and informing attitudes and behaviours andincreasing public awareness of domestic abuse by building community capacity to effectively respond to the needs of those affected by domestic abuse.

Values

•Respect
•Understanding
•Shared Learning
•Trust
•Non-Judgemental
•Challenge

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Committed to Evalution

Avert Trainers are required to gather Evaluation Materials from the participants who use our services. Together with the information gathered through the accredited or non-accredited learning process, these sources provide a clear picture of the participants learning journey and evidence of the effectiveness of the education and training provided to increasing public awareness of domestic abuse by building community capacity to effectively respond to the needs of those affected by domestic abuse.