You’re invited to celebrate 15 years of Lochaber Women’s Aid

Did you know that since opening our doors in 2003, Lochaber Women’s Aid have given support and advice to over 900 women and 300 children and young people?

This year, we celebrate 15 years of offering specialist support for domestic abuse. To mark the anniversary, we are hosting a celebratory event.

“It is important for us to remember the history of women’s aid in Lochaber” said Karen MacInnes, Chair of Lochaber Women’s Aid. “These events are crucial as it’s important to remind ourselves how far we’ve come. If we don’t remember how far we’ve come, we may lose our future direction”.

Over the past 15 years, there have been many people who have supported Lochaber Women’s Aid. We want to say ‘thank you’ to those who have worked alongside us as we celebrate our service.

As well as being open to the general public, we would like to extend an invitation to everyone who has previously been involved in the service in any way over the past 15 years to come along, enjoy the exhibition and enjoy some celebratory cake.

Despite the numbers previously supported, there are still many people in Lochaber, who do not understand the causes and effects of domestic abuse. More importantly, they do not realise that they can access specialist support and advice in Lochaber.

This event, which is free to attend, will be of interest to anyone in Lochaber whose work involves the support of vulnerable women and children and also to members of the public who would like to find out more about our work.

There will be lots going off throughout the afternoon. As well as the exhibition about our past and current work, there will also be three sessions with guest speakers when women can come along and find out about our future support and the measures that are available to protect and support women during the legal process.

Another feature of the afternoon will be the launch of a new ‘Friends of Lochaber Women’s Aid’ scheme, which will offer members of the public the opportunity to join with us and support our fundraising.

“Ironically, this celebratory year has seen a reduction in public funding for Lochaber Women’s Aid. This has forced a cut to service delivery and means we need to seek new funding to sustain our service. We are looking to enlist the help of members of the community with our fundraising activities” said Lorraine Revitt, Service Manager.

If you would like more information about the event or becoming a ‘Friend of Lochaber Women’s Aid’, please contact us on 01397 705734 or visit the website www.lochaberwomensaid.org.