This is the story of Stella who put up with abuse for years and nearly lost everything.

Stella came to Save The Family in January 2013 after staying at two Refuges in Liverpool and Chester.

Stella was forced to leave her home when the police were called to the house after a neighbour raised concerns.  Social services were called out and gave Stella an ultimatum of leaving there and then with her children, or risk having her children removed.

“It was horrendous, I literally had to pack my bags and leave the house, all my possessions and everything.”

She has three children living with her at Save The Family, who are 11, 9 and 4 years old. All the children have been found places in the local school and are now thriving according to Stella.

“They love it, they’ve really settled in and their school attendance has really improved since we’ve been living her.” 

One of the most significant forms of support Stella accessed was the Freedom Programme, a 10 week course to help victims of domestic abuse.

“This was a real eye opener for me. I was ticking everything on this list about his abusive nature, the manipulation, sexual control as well as the mental and physical abuse. He’d really undermined my confidence and I didn’t socialise outside the house at all”.

The course helped Stella talk about her relationship with others, what she had suffered and helped her see the commonalties with other women’s stories.

Stella had been left with debts as a result of the children’s father running up these debts after she left the house.   Stella is receiving help from Save The Family about her financial and housing situation, as well as personal and emotional support from staff at Save The Family.  Stella stated she was ready to move on and that her confidence and self-esteem was better than it ever was.

“This place has put me back together; I am a different, more confident person now. But it’s time to move on soon, I hope to be out by the end of the year.”