On 25th November 2011 (White Ribbon Day) a group of women from SixtyEightyThirty went to Durham Town Hall to see and support an awareness raising event of domestic abuse.  This event was the idea of a group of women survivors of domestic abuse who access the services of Derwentside Domestic Abuse Services, they wanted to tell their story and highlight facts about domestic abuse.  The women themselves performed a series of plays, and information giving facts and figures of domestic abuse were on show.

Feedback from this event:

"The seating made you feel off guard instantly didn;t know what it was about uncomfortable and nervous this is what it's like for us"

 "Powerful"   "Moving"   "Upsetting"  "Angry at injustice of abuse"

"It was a beautiful building with all this shit - abuse in the middle of it"

"The direct questions and way they were asked made your blood boil we are put through this all the time"

"The women were very brave to stand up in front of everyone and believeable actors"

"Quiz was fantastic left thinking of strong women and that we all have the potential to be strong women"

"The bunting was uplifting and also it was quite real and brought it back to me"

"I found myself shutting myself off and feeling angry about the unfairness"

"It made me feel not alone but also I never thought I would be sitting here in this situation"

"The card that was handed out at the beginning was very good again we had no control just like domestic abuse, I was handed one colour but I wanted the other colour"

"Was caught off guard and felt uncomfortable at the start now other people know how I feel"

"It left me feeling I wanted more i.e. the whole day was bite of the subject, as I would like to see some more in the specific subject"

"Fundraising idea was great and then ushered into the hall"

"The first play was very realistic, the second play was, I felt that I was not in the loop as it was behind me, the stamp, being a number it all, that's how you get treated"

"That's exactly what it is like and how it makes you feel"   "I wish my social worker was in the room"

"It was really interesting the secondary victimisation, the way the victims were treat by the authorities"

From SixtyEightyThirty survivors to Derwentside Domestic Abuse Services Survivors - to the women who performed the play

"It was very well put together and would like to do something like it.  Keep up the good work and keep our voices heard."

"Must keep the momentum going."  

"Keep getting the word out there.  The women did a wonderful job, can't praise them enough, made us well up - very courageous"

"Must have been very hard for the women to stand up and tell their stories, so grateful there are organisations who specialise in domestic abuse counselling and run specialised courses."

"Felt like I wasn't alone and think more people should do courses like the Recovery Toolkit."