Relationships in Recession - a group for young women

Relationships in Recession is a new 12 week group programme for young women (16 - 25 years old) who are or may be at increasing risk in their relationships due to financial pressures in the current economic climate.

Following a successful pilot in 2009, the group is being funded by the Big Lottery Fund and is being developed and delivered for Compass, Barnardo's by Diana Wellens, an experienced relationship counsellor and group worker. The funding allows for 4 groups over the next 2 years.

Why has this group been set up?

The young women we spoke to in developing the pilot group spoke of their reluctance to attend “domestic violence” support groups. They didn’t want to see themselves as “Domestic Violence Victims” and they often struggled to form relationships in groups where other participants were much older.

The Relationship Group was set up to encourage young women to address the issues particularly relevant to themselves and give them the opportunity to form relationships with other young women from their peer group.

Participants can explore all aspects of relationships – family, friends, partners; current or past. A crucial feature of the group is that it will work within a framework to be responsive and flexible to the issues raised by the participants in the group. The feedback from the pilot group suggested that the participants valued this autonomy and working in their peer group and felt supported by the memories of the group long after it ceased to meet.

What happens in the group?

The group encourages participants to consider different aspects of their relationships with a view to increasing their autonomy and choices and maximising the safety of themselves and their children. It is a responsive group which will continually assess individual needs and how they can best be addressed.

Participants are encouraged to be proactive in deciding what issues should be discussed and what activities they are interested in. In addition to relationship issues such as power and control, assertiveness and self esteem the group aims to address recession issues such as money management and healthy eating with the aid of key partner agencies in the Wrexham area. We also aim to have some fun!

Who can go on the group?

The group is aimed at young women (16 - 25 years old) who want to look at their relationships and get better at managing their relationships and their finances. It is common for relationships to be put under extra pressure when there are money worries. Some participants may have difficult or abusive partner relationships, others may have had bad experiences of relationships in the past - family, friends, partners - which has affected their self esteem to the extent that they may be at risk of abuse in the future.

Referrals can be made personally or by another agency and agency staff or individuals can ask to have a preliminary chat to help them decide whether this group is the right option.

Relationships in Recession Service Leaflet - English and Welsh (PDF)