The Community Group Project UK

AVA can be commissioned to provide training, materials and support to your agency (and your partner agencies) to equip you to deliver The Community Group Programme (if you are based outside of London).

What is the Community Group Project?

Click here to go back to the main Project page.

How does AVA equip us to deliver a Community Group Programme?

AVA will come to you to deliver training to those practitioners who will actually be running the groups for women or children (facilitators) and the person(s) who will be co-ordinating the group work programme locally (see below).

The training

The course is usually 3 days and provides an overview of the group programme and a detailed look at each of the 12 week sessions for the children's and the mothers groups. There will also be information and guidance provided on risk assessments as facilitators are expected to conduct home assessment visits for each family who are referred to groups. There will be plenty of time for questions!

The training should include all the facilitators and the area's coordinator.

Facilitators & Co-ordinators

We suggest that each area nominates a coordinator who will be responsible for publicising the groups locally, and taking referrals from relevant agencies. They will also locate a venue for the groups, assist with any transport issues and pass referrals onto group facilitators. One coordinator should be sufficient but if you are working for a large area, it may be appropriate to have two co-ordinators. Facilitators will deliver the 12-week programme and thus work directly with the mothers and their children.

The materials

AVA will provide all the materials your coordinator(s) and facilitators will need to deliver the programme.

• All the training materials
• Co-ordinator guidance, FAQ booklet and other relevant materials
• Original manuals and brand new handout packs sent electronically (the original manuals are currently being updated following our evaluation findings)
• DVD for use with older children
• Access to specialist area of AVA website.

Ongoing support

There may be questions that arise that you would like further advice on. Therefore it will be possible to contact the trainer and the project manager to discuss any issues that arise (this may have to be booked in advance depending on the query and time involved).

There will be opportunities to attend free thematic networking and peer support events in London.

All facilitators and coordinators will have access to a specialist area on our website with relevant information about the programme and links to other groups running across the country.

Due to the sensitive nature of setting up and running groups, we strongly suggest that all involved have access to regular, supervised clinical supervision. This will not be provided by AVA but we can advise supervisors on how to undertake appropriate supervision with staff.

Frequently Asked Questions

What experience do practitioners need to be eligible to facilitate a group?

To be eligible to run groups we would expect that participants to have a good understanding of the impacts of domestic violence on women and children and have experience of running groups and an understanding of the group work process.

What if I work in London?

AVA are currently funded by Comic Relief to provide free training and support to boroughs wishing to set up groups for children aged 4-21. You can click here for more details.

What if I work outside of London?

We are able to offer this training outside of London at a cost (see details below). Due to the intensive nature of the training and support, this will depend on the availability of staff. Please contact us to discuss the options for your area. Some areas are already running groups and we may be able to advise on who to contact in your area.

What are the costs involved (outside London)?

The cost of the overall package is £2,250 vol. / £2,997 stat.

This includes:

• 3 day facilitator training course (to be delivered locally) for up to 25 people including one or two co-ordinators

• All the training materials
• Co-ordinator guidance, FAQ booklet and other relevant materials
• Original manuals sent electronically and brand new handout packs (the new manuals are currently being updated following our evaluation findings)
• DVD for use with older children
• Access to specialist area of AVA website

• Access to all ongoing support - as detailed above.

Please note that although we can provide training for up to 25 people, we are only able to provide one set of manuals, one dvd and one memory stick as part of the overall cost. We can certainly provide more but these will cost extra, as detailed below:

Extra costs:

• Extra usb stick with guidance - £10
• Extra DVD - £25
• Extra set of manuals (when available) - £35
• Postage for sending items - will depend on location and weight.

For organisations already trained, that now wish to purchase the additional resources and support (an electronic copy of the manual, the DVD, access to the member's area and access to networking events as well as support from our staff) can pay a one-off fee of £300.

Other costs to bear in mind for delivering the groups, that you will have to cover (not all of these will be relevant, it will depend on individual areas):

• Travel expenses
• Crèche facilities
• Venue (although some local organisations may provide this in kind, and some schools or children's centres may be willing to host the groups)
• Refreshments for groups
• Art and craft materials
• Books and DVDs

It may be that you wish to fund the posts of coordinator and facilitators or it may be that these tasks can be assimilated into current roles. This will vary between areas.

For more details please contact: sophie.taylor@avaproject.org.uk