HSYAReview2024 - Flipbook - Page 9
Peer Productions
The Matrix Trust
South West Surrey Domestic
Abuse Service
A registered charity since 2006, we
provide a free one-year accredited
training course for young actors (aged
18-24). Alongside this qualification
these young actors volunteer their time
to tour our original educational plays
throughout Surrey, reaching around
15,000 young people (aged 8-18) with
peer-led preventative messages about
mental health, wellbeing and crime.
Delivered by young peer educators, our
work hits home with significance and
power. Theatre is a powerful tool for
education and transformation.
We have provided a lifeline for
vulnerable young people across
Guildford Borough for 25 years, helping
to catalyse change for them by
nurturing, inspiring, connecting and
empowering them. Growing as local
need has increased, we’ve worked
closely with young people as this has
happened, listening to them in order to
discern their needs and launching or
adapting projects to provide the
support requested.
We provide free, confidential,
independent, and impartial advice to
anyone aged 16 or above affected by
domestic abuse living in the boroughs of
Waverley and Guildford.
We offer skilled practical help, ongoing
emotional support, and information and
advice on issues such as safety
planning, housing rights, relationships
and separation, and civil and criminal
court proceedings. We have a specialist
Children’s team that supports children
and young people who have been
exposed to domestic abuse.
We also provide peer-led outreach
workshops, particularly focusing on
working with learning disabled young
people. Young people are at the heart
of our work. Each year our young actoreducators feed in to the development
of new and established projects
ensuring our work remains fresh,
relevant and engaging.
Man Up is a play about being a boy
and becoming a man for young people
of all genders in year 9 and above from
playwright Nina Lemon (Masking,
Hidden, Losing It, The Forest in
Between). It comes with comprehensive
teachers’ pack.
In light of growing evidence showing a
notable increase in misogynistic
attitudes among young people, we
developed this new play aimed at
empowering and uplifting young men,
as well as their communities and
people of all genders who support
them.
Man Up tells the story of childhood
friends Lottie and ogan as they
navigate growing up together and try to
work out how to act and how to be in
an increasingly confusing world where
no one knows the rules any more.
Our Monthly Hubs provide an essential
safe space for young people, where
they can meet with their peers, have fun
and find robust mental health
support. By engaging young people in
fun, meaningful activity they are
encouraged away from anti-social
behaviour which often presents a risk
to the young person as well as to
others. Furthermore, the early
intervention wellbeing support offered
helps prevent young people's mental
health from further decline. We
supported 47 young people in this way
last year.
Research into the number of Surrey
children living in low-income families
is 22,377 for 2020/21. This figure has
risen 11% since 2019/20. Such young
people are uniquely vulnerable,
often lacking basic needs and not
having access to constructive
distractions. This puts such young
people at high risk of harm or causing
harm to others, with anti-social
behaviour being adopted as a cure for
boredom. Our service is free at point of
use and therefore provides these young
people with access to a constructive
means of spending their time outside
of education. This protects them and
the wider community, as well as
helping to relinquish the pressure on
families struggling with the increased
cost of living.
The impact of domestic abuse on young
people is considerable and in Covid-19
times domestic abuse levels are rising.
Sadly, research has revealed an overlap
between young people affected by
domestic abuse and future criminality.
There are a number of protective factors
which can build resilience in children and
there are support programmes and
interventions that are known to help
children to cope and recover from
experiencing domestic abuse. Our
YOUTH AMBASSADOR PROGRAMME
is one such project that aims to provide
protection for young people currently
facing domestic abuse.
Our YOUTH AMBASSADOR
PROGRAMME has a number of
components:
1 A quarterly 'Hear the child's voice'
forum/meeting where we hear from
young people about their concerns about
how domestic abuse has affected their
life and what is lacking in preventative
work to support young people
2 'Ambassador in the community' Where possible and with the support
and guidance of our team, our
Ambassadors will be encouraged to help
other young people to understand the
dangers of abusive relationships and
provide signposts for practical help to
keep themselves and their friends safe
3 We like our Ambassadors to become
case study profiles on our website.
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