Protecting families from domestic violence

Alan has over 20 years’ experience of bringing technology products and operational models to market. For the last 2 years, he has overseen the implementation of protective solutions for domestic abuse sufferers in Australia. Alan looks after all client management activities ensuring that our clients have optimal, personal protection while in our care.

From personal experience I know that being a victim of domestic violence should not define who you are.

It is not a badge of shame.

The first step is to remove yourself from the abusive relationship and this will empower you to get on with your life and if I can help you on your journey just reach out. Help really is at Hand and we will help you to be all that you can be. Sir Ray Avery.

It’s clear that we need real action to help support domestic violence victims and their families.

Coming up with innovative solutions to solve problems is what we’re passionate about, and Colenso are committed to do whatever we can to help.

Compassion and education provides the pathway to enable healing of Domestic Violence Victims to begin a life free from abuse. I want to support families to flourish by providing much needed solutions for those affected by domestic abuse.

We are proud to be part of the Help@Hand team and provide families who are exiting abusive relationships with essential support to rebuild their lives and create furnished homes for their family. We can turn victims into hero’s by simply showing that we care.

Gavin has over 20 years of experience working in communications, social movement campaigns and social services. He provides pathways for the provision of healing programs for the perpetrators of DV, who often are the product of DV themselves. There are significant benefits for families when the perpetrators are also given the support to heal their trauma.

Rob is an ex police officer specialising in family violence victims safety. He advises government agencies, social service providers, healthcare professionals and community groups on a range of violence reduction issues.

He is committed to inter-agency partnerships and the development of best practices to support Domestic Violence victims.

Island Child provides shelter, care, support and opportunities for at-risk whānau in their most desperate time of need. HelpAtHand brings a valued resource to enable improved safety to whanau, guided with aroha , respect, compassion, generosity and courage.

Robyn has brought a people-focused, entrepreneurial spirit to a range of executive leadership positions in the community services sector and she has also led community and private sector partnerships to deliver ground breaking initiatives in microfinance and family violence prevention. Robyn’s driving motivation is to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable people and her work at WAYSS provides her with that opportunity as she leads key changes to disrupt people’s experience of homelessness and family violence.

Robyn is thrilled to help shape the Help@Hand movement by sharing her knowledge gained through the Australian experience.

Matthew has a background in corporate treasury consulting. After he witnessed a suicide he founded Stigma Statistics and developed a Suicide Tracking Analysis & Reporting (‘STAR’) platform for sharing, analysis and reporting of information about suicides and suicide risk. Domestic violence is a major contributor to suicides and we want to collaborate with Help@Hand to reduce family and sexual Violence related suicides.

FSM offers long-term family social services for the entire whānau – catering for vulnerable and traumatised mums, dads and tamaraki. Our focus is on improving the impact of intergenerational parenting and building certainty in whānau ora.

Leainne can offer insights from 32 years of social work experience facilitating change for at-risk families in South Auckland. She has a BA in Political Studies, Master's in Social Work and Dip in Business, but most importantly, Leainne brings a Māori Worldview to the table.

David's daughter was murdered when she told her husband that she was leaving the marriage due to the violence she had to live through. David's focus has been to prevent family violence happening in the first place. To bring fathers like himself to understand that their daughters need their help to get out of violent marriages.

His aim is to make families safe and spends most time getting the victims out of intolerable situations.
He was awarded the MNZM for his work in Preventing Family Violence in NZ.

Ruth became an advocate for survivors after volunteering her services to community support groups to gain an understanding of what supports were available. This experience highlighted how our legal system was clearly not survivor friendly. To best represent the survivors, she recognised she must remain totally independent of any group, organisation or paymaster. Giving her a unique position to freely work with survivors and her experiences have given her a powerful voice to advocate for changes when appearing before Ministers and the different ministries of Justice, Corrections, Courts, MSD and Police. For the impact she has had in bringing a focus onto victim survivors, she was awarded the MNZM in 2019, for her services to advocacy.