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Michael Beechener

Michael has many skills in training, consulting, facilitation, leadership and coaching. He has worked as a consultant in both the private and public sectors for over sixteen years in the UK and abroad. His main area of work is running personal development programmes in Leadership and Management mostly now in the public sector within the South West.

Michael has been actively involved in the adva Training and Awareness Strategy from the start and is delighted to still be an active member of the training team mainly focusing on Level 1’s and the Manager Training. Recently this work had taken him to Turkey to be involved in an EU project supporting Victims through the Turkish Probation Service.

Michael lives on the edge of Exeter with his wife Lorraine (*who embroidered the original “Hope is were the Hurt is” tapestry), 3 children and the dog!

Tess Biddington

My journey to becoming a trainer began many years ago when I was working as a trainee in a legal practice, applying for injunctions for victims/survivors.  I moved on to qualify as a teacher and again encountered the issue when working in a comprehensive school; this time because of children’s disclosures of living with dva.  This had an enormous impact on me and I decided I wanted to work in this area.  I found a job on a small research project alongside Women’s Aid and other agencies, then into service delivery – on a helpline, in a refuge and with survivors post-separation in supported accommodation.  I then began work for a co-ordinated community response to dva in 1999, and within that role began to design and deliver training.  I went freelance in 2002, and work across the country delivering training and consultancy to a wide range of agencies, including  the Probation Service and, of course, adva.

My work for adva is extremely rewarding – to support the development of strategies and systems for responding to dva and the positive impact of the training.  To hear delegates talk about how the training has changed their practice or brought new enthusiasm is empowering – the work in the training room means that victims and survivors are safer.  It is also very positive to work alongside four such talented trainers as Dinah, Michael, Jodie and Jo! In my other life, I am also a writer – and have published a book of poems with 3 other poets to challenge dva and raise money for victim services.

(I have two children, a daughter of 27 and a son of 25. I’m extremely proud of both of them although their lives have not been as easy as they could have been.)

Jodie Das

I have many years experience in service delivery, policy/strategy work, multi-agency working and training: including developing the first Accredited Domestic Violence Training Programme for practitioners in the UK.
I work with the National Offender Management Service in the design, development and implementation of perpetrator programmes and associated services.
I also work with the Ministry of Justice for the European Union Project developing responses to victims of domestic violence in Turkey.
I am currently undertaking an MSc researching Interprofessional Practice: Society, Violence and Practice at City University, London.

Dinah Mears

ADVA is a pioneering organisation in the field of Domestic Abuse and it is a privilege for me to be part of the training team. I see my role as twofold: firstly to enable each course participant to identify the knowledge they already have about the subject, and secondly to add to that knowledge where she/he wishes to know more.

I used to be a manager in social services Child Protection, and now work as a couple counsellor with Relate which informs my understanding about the dynamics in intimate relationships. In the last 10 years Domestic Abuse has emerged from the shadows as an issue that matters deeply to individuals, organisations and ultimately to the government. There is always more for me to understand and share with those who attend the ADVA courses. Only last week, a participant who had herself escaped from a violent relationship, said to me: “It’s fantastic that ADVA is promoting such an informed view about the subject, it is courses like this that will change the culture so that Domestic Abuse is no longer acceptable in society.”

Jo Morrish

I became a member of the ADVA training team when I worked for North Devon Women’s Aid Outreach Project in 2003, having previously studied Youth and Community Work. Since then I have been involved in developing the comprehensive range of training courses that ADVA have to offer.

During the 8 years I worked for Women’s Aid I had a variety of roles including Outreach Worker, Women’s Safety Worker, Children’s Group Worker and finally an Independent Domestic Violence Worker (IDVA). Since leaving Women’s Aid I have worked as a trainer and assessor both on a freelance basis and for a national charity, Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse where I am involved in training IDVA’s, MARAC’s and Family Intervention Projects.