Voice Against Violence

VAV met with Ministers & CoSLA on the 1st February 2011 – we had a great meeting and we felt like we are really being listened to. A lot of positive things were said – it was the first time in a long time that everyone in VAV felt great after the meeting.  We feel that we have built a really strong relationship with Ministers and CoSLA and long may it continue. Who knows what the next government will bring? 🙂

At the meeting Alex Neil, Minister for Housing and Communities, asked us to send a report to Cabinet summarising our findings and recommendations. This was circulated at the end of February. If you are interested, click here to read it: Voice Against Violence Report to Cabinet – Service Gaps for CYPEDA.

Voice Against Violence will speak to Ministers and CoSLA in Parliament on the 1st of February. All eight of us VAV people will be there together with Alex Neil the Minister for Housing and Communities, Adam Ingram who is Minister for Children and Early Years and Cllr Harry McGuigan who is the CoSLA Spokesperson for Community Wellbeing & Safety.

We will share our views on what needs to improve for children affected by domestic abuse. Some of the things we will talk about are:

1. Funding for the CEDAR Groupwork Programme as funding for it is likely to be stopped after March 2011.

2. Funding for Children’s Workers which is going to continue for at least another year – Great News!