Words by Smiley Team
When a young boy arrived at school holding his mum’s hand and clutching a teddy bear, his teacher would usually have asked the child to leave his toy behind or for the teddy to be put somewhere safe in the classroom. But on this occasion the teacher let him keep it as an important source of comfort. She quietly supported the child throughout the day, knowing, thanks to children’s domestic abuse charity Operation Encompass, that his home life had been dramatically shaken up only the night before.
Founded and run by couple David and Elisabeth Carney-Haworth, Operation Encompass connects police officers with schools to ensure a trained key adult can offer immediate and appropriate support to children who have experienced domestic abuse. Importantly the scheme ensures that information about all domestic abuse incidents is shared prior to the start of the next school day.
It was through their own work in education and policing that the couple became aware of the need for this initiative.
“Had we not been in these professions and married to one another, this charity might not exist,” explained Elisabeth.
While working as a headteacher, Elisabeth was made aware that one of her pupils had experienced domestic abuse a long time after the incident took place. Speaking to her husband, who was a police sergeant at the time, they realised how critical it was to connect schools with the police so that this information could be passed on without delay.
David explained: “The police had information about children suffering due to domestic abuse, but they were not sharing it with the schools.”
Since they created the organisation in 2010, liaising between the police force and eight schools across Cornwall and Plymouth, the project has ballooned to help children in nearly all of the police forces in England and Wales and it has reached further around the world.
From their home in South West England, the couple runs the entire operation. They started by contacting every relevant organisation and public figure who might be interested and have visited police forces across the country and further afield speaking about the importance of safeguarding children through this scheme.
Today police forces are using the project across the UK as well as in Holland, the US and Germany. A recent freedom of information request from the BBC revealed that between January and October 2020, 27 of the 41 UK police forces participating in the project had made 143,000 notifications to schools. Extrapolating from their data on the number of notifications, they estimate that the charity has helped a minimum of 800,000 children since its inception.
To expand the project further and protect even more children through this vital initiative, David and Elisabeth would welcome any donations.
Funding will help pay for a range of supportive activities that the charity undertakes and enable them to continue with initiatives such as their helpline which is staffed by clinical and educational psychologists. Funds will also help train key adults to care for these children, to provide resources for schools as well as promotional materials and to cover day-to-day running costs.
They would also appreciate advice from a marketing manager to promote the organisation and spread its work further afield.
To donate to the charity please get in touch by emailing [email protected].
So far the charity receives support from five female patrons: Dame Esther Rantzen DBE, Dame Vera Baird DBE QC, the Victims Commissioner; ex-High Sheriff of Cornwall Sarah Coryton, actor and broadcaster Anneka Rice, and Kirstie McDonough, whose mother was murdered when she was younger.
In order to represent the men who also suffer due to domestic violence, they are looking for a male patron to add to this list. If you know a male celebrity who could support Operation Encompass, please get in touch via [email protected].
