Who We Are

Our charity was set up in 2008 by Frank Mullane, in memory of his sister Julia and nephew Will who were murdered in 2003 by Julia's estranged husband (and Will's father).   

AAFDA is now a national organisation with a small number of expert staff providing a specialist service to a great many families.   

What We Do

Since its inception AAFDA has provided unique peer support, guidance, and specialist advocacy to thousands of individuals bereaved by domestic homicide across England and Wales, and each year AAFDA’s team support hundreds of family members through their sensitive and traumatic experience.    

After a domestic abuse related death there is a statutory duty to hold a Domestic Homicide Review among other inquiries that take place.  We provide face to face support to guide families and sometimes close friends through the maze of processes that follow a death after domestic abuse.

We also provide peer support events - such as weekends away to meet other families who have experienced similar loss.  These events are hugely popular and families benefit from speaking to others who understand first hand the experience they've had.

What Families Tell Us About the Work We Do

 “I knew I couldn’t go through it on my own I needed knowledge and support…I was feeling quite confused, not used to these sort of situations. I have been a manager but you suddenly get involved with Barristers, Police, Health, its horrendous, lots of official bodies in your life and you are not sure what you are doing…Really important to have that support.”

“I think knowing that there are other people that know how I feel, because they have had this happen, I don’t feel, it’s very lonely place, it does help to know that there are other people you are speaking to, and that the support that that has given me is incredible.”
 

The COVID-19 Pandemic has had a particular impact on the families that we support -

What Families Tell Us About The Impact Of COVID-19

"It has left me with too much time to think. I have lost my safe and happy place at work so I feel lost. I have lost my therapist for the time being so have also lost the one hour a week that I can truly be honest. I feel this has not delayed my grieving process but actually gone backwards. I also miss my advocate from AAFDA very much"

"I believed before the lock down that I had dealt with my grief or at least come to terms with it. However, since being furloughed from work and losing all of my distractions, I now understand that I never really dealt with it at all"

What We Would Like To Do Next

We will be unable to provide face to face support and peer support events for several months and maybe even longer,  so we have set in motion our plans for a digital peer support offer, so that we can reach out to the families we support at this difficult time.  

We  asked these families how we can best meet their needs through COVID-19.  Their responses illustrated that AAFDA's expert knowledge and proactive peer support is needed now more than ever ;

• The increasing rate of domestic homicide is triggering. 
• Domestic Homicide Reviews and Inquests are postponed or delayed leading to further trauma and anxiety. 
• Families are isolated from each other and their usual support networks which is compounding their trauma and hindering their coping strategies. 
• Bereaved kinship carers are struggling without childcare and schooling,
• Many have health vulnerabilities.  
• Some are struggling financially, 
• Many have financial concerns.  

 In short, these bereaved families need access to peer support with others that have experienced a similar loss.   

We've held a small pilot, (as Roann in our video mentions),  and this is how it went:

"for me it was amazing to feel and see the support and how long they have all been supported by AAFDA, and to realise it support is for you as long as you need it"

"Having the interaction with people, the session was good having both some jokes and some serious stuff"

We plan to hold 3 events per week for 6 months. We will design, facilitate and evaluate this on-line peer support project and purchase IT equipment (for families without access), and a subscription to enable us to use Zoom conferencing with no call-time limitations.   We will also have staff available after the group calls, to speak one to one via the phone or video calling, should anyone need to.

The legacy of the funded programme will provide a significant element of AAFDA's digital peer support offer, which forms part of our commitment to continually improve our programmes to best meet beneficiaries needs. 

We know that during the COVID-19 Lockdown domestic homicide has increased, so we also know that there are more families than ever in need of our specialist and expert support.  Help us to help them.