Ongoing Women's Local Support (OWLS)

What we do

OWLS is an award winning community group of experts with lived experience, which offers peer support for women that have, or are going through, domestic abuse.

Our services support women and their children, to overcome physical, emotional, and financial abuse. OWLS have been offering help and support to women who have experienced Domestic Violence in Stockport since 2016.

We are a team of volunteers who have all had first hand experience of Domestic Violence and wish to help support other women in the same position. We offer a safe place for women to come and benefit from services. We offer the following services.

• 1:1 Peer Support. For women that may not feel up to attending the coffee mornings but still want help and support on a one to one basis.
• Mother & Toddler Coffee mornings. We can now offer our service users a Mother and Toddler Coffee Morning on Tuesdays. This is a chance to be with other mums to get support and friendships. These are run term time only.
• Coffee Mornings. A weekly coffee morning run on Wednesdays where we provide support and advice. The coffee mornings are very informal with signposting to other agencies including Foodbank and TLC (Talk, Listen, Change).
• Buddy System. Women who feel they want support for appointments ie Doctors, Hospital, Court and Solicitors, we can arrange for somebody to go with them. Drop In Sessions are Monday to Friday 10am-2pm for any advice or support that is needed and provided in a safe place.
• Brinnington Big Local drop-in Monday for Brinnington residents to come along for advice and support in a safe place.
• Baby massage (appointment only). Baby massage is a good way to increase the bond with your baby and spend some good quality, positive interaction time offering many health benefits for the mother and baby. It can help baby with wind, constipation and teething to name a few. It also helps mum to understand her baby more and look for their cues.
• The Voice. The VOICE Programme is a ten-week psycho-educational programme for adults addressing domestic violence, coercive control and the behaviours that create the dynamic of intimate partner relationship abuse. We aim to support victims to identify the broad spectrum of abusive behaviours, the process of dismantling that a victim goes through and the significant impact of such traumatic experiences.
• Who's in charge? This is a 9 week child to parent violence (CPV) programme aimed at parents whose children are being abusive or violent toward them or who appear out of parental control. The structure of the programme consists of 8 two and a half hour sessions with a two-month follow up.
• Confidence Building Course. A four week course, that gives you the tools to helps build confidence and looks at wellbeing.