On Thursday 28 August, we were delighted to launch our 4-day art exhibition ‘Telling my Story: From Darkness to Light’ kindly hosted at God’s House Tower in Southampton.
The artwork on display was contributed by young people supported through our services including one-to-one Art Therapy clients, Bright Stars and Creative Arts Group and Gender Identity Group, as well as adult clients in our Then and Now group. We also displayed young peoples entries submitted for our STAR Project Mascot competition. Featuring paintings, drawings, sculptures and written word, the work illustrates the empowering journey people take when they engage with our services. Through creative expression, they have found ways to process experiences that are often difficult to put into words.
We were kindly joined by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, James and Becky, the service users exhibiting and the event was attended by partners and supporters of Yellow Door’s work.
The exhibition forms part of Yellow Doors 40th anniversary activities and our Chair of Trustees, Dr Julie Greer opened the event:
“The charity started in 1985 as Southampton Rape Crisis and we have been running our Independent Sexual Violence Advocate service since 2006, supporting thousands of people through the judicial system. We know that those who have protected characteristics can be the most vulnerable to abuse and in 2015 made a commitment to widening our reach through our Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy service. In 2018 we changed our name to Yellow Door, with our Domestic Abuse Team evolving from the merger with Women’s Aid.
It feels such an achievement to be celebrating our 40th Anniversary this year. We have found lots of ways to commemorate the occasion already, with the launch of our new therapeutic space the Aspen Room in May, and a garden party for our Trustees and Volunteers who all give of their time and expertise freely to support the charity.
The service users whose work is represented in the exhibition had an opportunity to come and see their artwork being displayed this morning and I know that they shared a real sense of pride and achievement. Their pieces are a reminder that none of us would be here without the bravery of our service users, who are sharing their creativity with us today. It takes courage to speak up when you have suffered abuse; the artwork we see here is part of a further step of speaking out – sharing their experiences collectively, each piece adding its quiet message, so that together there is a loud shout of ‘Enough!’
We know that the UK government has pledged to halve the number of VAWG incidents and we await the government’s Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy with interest. Yellow Door has been dedicated to work that contributes to reducing the effects of VAWG for 40 years. Our preventative work in schools and colleges in more recent years has shown a way in which planned programmes, such as STAR or Peer Heroes, enable children and young people to explore and challenge attitudes. We know they can make a difference to behaviours and provide a basis for more hopeful relationships in the future.
Much of our work however, is in providing non-judgmental specialist support to women and men, families, young people and children who have been affected by domestic or sexual abuse and other harmful practices. We target support to the most marginalised groups who experience additional barriers to gaining support, because of the intersectionality of protected characteristics such as ethnicity, race, disability, gender or age with abuse. A key part of that provision is in therapeutic support and we are proud to have British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy accreditation.
