The FSEPS (Families, Social Exclusion and Places of Safety) is a project carried out during the period 2018-2020 based on the social exclusion that many women and their children experience as a result of domestic violence. The project aims to create a programme that will actively support mothers and children residing in domestic violence refuge settings or other places of safety to combat social exclusion.

The project focuses on challenging attitudes and behaviour of women and their children to combat social isolation and empower them in their future relationships. The programme is expected to encourage the development of positive memories amongst the children of spending time with their mothers in the refuge. The main focus will be on professionals working within refuges and places of safety. The FSEPS programme provide learning activities, supported free play, educational trips and communal food activities to create positive memories for families.

On the other hand, the objectives are:

- to identify key existing provision and best practice;

-to develop a programme for use in refuges/places of safety in different national contexts;

-to identify needs of key stakeholders to inform the new programme;

-to identify a range of resources to support to facilitate stable, sustainable family relationships;

-to develop a range of activities and combat social exclusion of women and their children;

- to encompass lessons from piloting the programme for use in refuges/places of safety.

The first stage of the project was to build an evidence-based research that identified existing knowledge, policy and experience. The evidence-based research comprised a review of existing policy and practice and a needs analysis that identified what the women and children lacked while living in refuges and other places of safety. The evidence based provided the main focus for the opening partner meeting held in Birmingham in November 2018. The results of this stage in the FSEPS project are described in the summary report, which can be downloaded here.

For additional information, visit us on Facebook (link: https://www.facebook.com/FSEPS-Families-Social-Exclusion-and-Places-of-Safety-518716175313044/) or the official website https://fseps.eu/