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Get To Know Us

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Our Vision 

We believe everyone has a right to live free from abuse. 

Our Mission

We know that domestic abuse touches all our lives and is rooted in gender inequality.   CarmDAS exists to help people become free to choose their own journey. 

Our Beliefs and Values

  • We believe domestic abuse is unacceptable 

  • We believe that domestic abuse is a gender based issue and is a cause and consequence of gender inequality 

  • We believe men experience domestic abuse 

  • We believe children experience domestic abuse in their own right 

  • We listen to our clients 

  • We believe them 

  • We don't judge 

  • We believe every individual is their own expert and are entitled to respectful and confidential support 

  • We believe in a needs led, trauma informed strengths based approach

  • We value our entire audience  - our clients, stakeholders, trustees, volunteers and team members

Who we are 

CarmDAS specialises in providing support to adults, children and young people experiencing domestic abuse across Carmarthen and surrounding areas. We believe the roots of domestic abuse lie in a culture of gender inequality.  We're a charity consisting of 18+ staff and we're governed by a board of trustees. 

History

CarmDAS has delivered a range of services to those subjected to Domestic Abuse since 1978.  We grew out of the feminist movement when the first refuges ran by women activists were the only safe place for women and children escaping violence in their own homes. 

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CarmDAS believes that Domestic Abuse touches all of our lives and is rooted in gender inequality.  We exist to support people to be free of abuse and choose their own journey, through safe emergency accommodation, holistic support in the community, advocacy, education and self care. 

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We believe that domestic abuse is a social issue that is caused by gender inequality, a sense of entitlement, ownership and control.  Women and girls are disproportionately affected by violence and inequality in our society. 

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Our approach to providing support is grounded in the belief that our clients are their own experts.  Our service is led by our clients, it's trauma informed and focuses on strengths and solutions.  We treat people with dignity and respect,  and support the whole person in a non judgemental way. ​​​​​​

"I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become"

- Carl Jung

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Our Ambition 

We want the individuals we support to: 

  • Feel Safer 

  • Be Confident 

  • Have improved skills 

  • Be better connected to their community

  • Trust in their own decisions 

  • Embrace their resilience 

Our Strategic Aims

To achieve our ambitions we will: 

  • Develop our services to meet the needs of the people we support 

  • Invest in our team to ensure they have the most up to date knowledge and are equipped to support our clients 

  • Involve our partners and stakeholders to develop opportunities that make a difference 

  • Manage our organisation to make sure we protect the charity and ensure it is fit for purpose 

  • Raise our profile, fundraise, develop new income streams 

 

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Our Services 

We're continually developing our services based on what our clients with lived experience are telling us.  We currently provide:

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  • Housing related support and emergency accommodation (24 hrs a day, 365 days a year) 

  • Emotional and practical support for adults in the community

  • Evidenced based programmes for improving physical and mental health and wellbeing  

  • An ISVA led wellbeing service for survivors of sexual violence within the context of domestic abuse 

  • Peer support groups for survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence 

  • A dedicated service for children, young people and families 

  • An IDVA Service for high risk victims 

  • Education and training to schools, professionals and community groups

  • Volunteering opportunities 

  • We also work in partnership with other domestic abuse support services at a local and regional level

Our approach

CarmDAS staff are kind and compassionate, promoting strength and resilience using a non-judgemental, needs led, trauma informed approach. We take the time to get to know people and what matters to them so we can help individuals and whole families improve their lives.

 

We recognise the importance of safety and trust as the starting point for addressing trauma and strongly believe that individuals have the strength to move forward with the right support. 

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Our service provides adults, children and young people with a range of therapeutic interventions and healthy coping strategies, to be able to talk about and recover from domestic abuse and to prevent and reduce it from happening in the first place.  Our practitioners consider the needs of the whole family through a range of tailored 1-1 support sessions, group programmes, activities and workshops. All of our team receive specialist training and are trauma informed and ACE aware.

 

We work as part of a regional partnership in Mid and West Wales, including housing, police, social services, local authorities and other key agencies. For more information please contact info@carmdas.org​​​​​​

Our Commitment to Safeguarding

​Our full Safeguarding Policies are under review, please contact info@carmdas.org is you would like further information. Once finalised, our policies will be uploaded to our website for anyone to access.

Our Commitment to the Environment

At CarmDAS we aim to minimise our environmental impact and operate in an environmentally responsible manner across all of our business activities. As an organisation, we recognise these responsibilities and demonstrate our commitment by publishing an Environmental Policy. We are fully committed to implementing the actions and principles set out in this policy. Please contact us if you would like to know more about this.

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​Our key priorities:

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  • Be as efficient as possible in how we use energy - we only use energy from completely renewable sources of wind and solar

  • Reduce waste and energy consumption where we can

  • Recycle as much as we can

  • Use ICT effectively to reduce our carbon footprint

  • Purchase goods locally and ideally from sustainable resources

  • Encourage healthy living and safe and active lives

  • Maintain our space and grounds naturally, where possible

  • Educate those that we encounter to consider the environment

  • Take clear responsibility for our environmental impact

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