As part of our package of member benefits, VONNE’s Gold and Silver Membership+ supporters have the opportunity to submit a guest post for our website. To celebrate this Trustees' Week, we caught up with Silver Member and winners of Trustee Board of the Year at the North East Charity Awards 2025, Impact Family Services, to find out more about their busy year.
Impact Family Services is a specialist domestic abuse support provider based in South Tyneside. For almost 40 years, we have delivered crisis intervention, prevention, and healing programmes to individuals and families affected by domestic abuse.
We offer trauma-informed, age-appropriate services for all ages:
- Safe Hands: Support for children aged 4–11
- Positive Impact: Programmes for young people aged 12–17
- Options: Support services for adults aged 18+
Meeting Growing and Changing Needs
Domestic abuse rates in South Tyneside remain among the highest in the country. The need for support continues to rise, and the types of abuse people experience are changing — especially with the increasing role of digital communication and technology.
Our specialist team regularly adapts our support to meet these needs. Every year, we help hundreds of individuals to rebuild safety, confidence, and independence.
Service Expansion and Partnership Development
2025 has been a busy year of growth. We established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Connected Families CIC, and formed a partnership with the Oxfordshire charity Reducing the Risk of Domestic Abuse. Through this partnership, Connected Families now delivers Domestic Abuse Champions Training to employers across the North East.
We also recognised the growing pressure on mental health services. In response, we introduced our own in-house counselling service, ensuring clients can access support when they need it rather than joining lengthy waiting lists. This now allows us to offer complete wrap-around support for individuals and families.
Supporting Young People and Addressing Sexual Violence
We have seen an alarming increase in young women aged 16–25 disclosing sexual violence within intimate relationships. In response, we expanded our work with young people by:
- Delivering education on healthy relationships
- Challenging misogyny
- Encouraging understanding of consent
- Providing specialist one-to-one and group support
Looking Ahead: New Funding and Enhanced Family Support
We are proud to have recently been awarded a three-year grant from The National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund. This funding will allow us to employ a dedicated Family Worker. Their role will be to support wider family members to understand trauma and to help them play a positive role in the healing journey.
Celebrating Our Board of Trustees
We have also invested in the development of our Board of Trustees. We now have a strong and skilled board of twelve members, each championing a key strategic area of our work.
Chair of Trustees, Therese Liddle, shared:
“This Trustees’ Week, I want to celebrate the incredible people who make up the Impact Family Services board. Our trustees give their time, expertise, and passion to guide the charity and support families across South Tyneside and beyond.
Being a trustee is about much more than meetings — it’s about commitment, collaboration, and care. I’m proud that our board was recently named North East Trustee Board of the Year 2025 at the NE Charity Awards.
If you’ve ever thought about becoming a trustee, there is nothing more rewarding than knowing the difference you are helping to make.”
Continuing to Grow with Purpose
Our Chief Executive Officer, Catherine Marchant, reflects:
“After a period of significant growth, it is important for us to review our services and how we deliver them. We will soon be holding a strategy day with trustees to review progress, evaluate our approach, and make sure we remain responsive and effective.
We are also developing advisory groups for adults, young people, and families. Their voices will help shape our services going forward. We remain committed to breaking the cycle of abuse by supporting not just individuals, but whole families.”
Find Out More
More information about Impact Family Services can be found at www.impactfs.co.uk and you can also watch our video here.
For employers wanting to know more about Workplace DA Champions Training information can be found at Domestic Abuse Champions — Connected Families CIC.
Image Credits: Impact Family Services