Camilla visits ‘lifeline’ charity helping survivors of domestic abuse

The Duchess of Cornwall has continued her campaigning against domestic abuse, praising a support charity for being a “lifeline” for survivors.

Camilla who carried out her first public royal duties on Tuesday since being endorsed by the Queen as a future Queen Consort, visited Voices in Bath

The duchess, who will one day be crowned Queen Camilla at the Prince of Wales’s side after the Queen expressed her wish in her Platinum Jubilee address, has tirelessly advocated for domestic abuse survivors over the years.

After speaking to two women helped by the survivor-led organisation, Camilla told staff: “You should be very proud. I’ve been speaking to a couple of ladies who wouldn’t have survived without you. You are literally their lifeline.”

Voices, founded in 2014, offers holistic, early help and recovery work for those affected by abuse and their families, and provides a platform for survivors to influence policy and provision of services.

Camilla was shown the charity’s safe support spaces and met the founders, trustees and staff before chatting to some of VOICE’s long-term clients in a private room.

She said as she unveiled a plaque: “I’d like to thank you all for all you are doing for people who are suffering domestic abuse.

“As you can imagine I’ve been around a few centres, a few safe houses and you always get the same feedback from them. Women, and sometimes men I talk to too, they all say you are their lifelines.

“That they could not exist without all your help, all your therapy and the legal help you give them.”

Camilla added: “This probably wouldn’t have happened 20 or 30 years ago but it luckily is happening more and more now.

“More and more women are able to come forward and tell their stories, which [means] we are making a breakthrough.

“It’s going to take a long time but it is no longer a taboo subject. We’ve got to get out there and get it out to the general public, because a lot of people, including myself at the beginning, do not know enough about it.”

She told staff: “All of you do a fantastic job. Onwards and upwards.”

Voices operates with support from another charity, St John’s, of which the duchess is patron, as well as the National Lottery.

Camilla has this week backed a new campaign urging abuse survivors to get help through the NHS, launched as part of Sexual Abuse & Sexual Violence Awareness Week.

The drive aims to highlight the support offered at dozens of sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) in England, while the NHS is also creating two new clinical lead roles for domestic violence and sexual assault.

It is backed by a £20 million boost to specialist services, NHS England said.

Camilla heard from one coercive control survivor, Samantha Drake, who shared her experiences and told how the charity helped her.

“It was just liberating. To sit with 15 other women, and we’re all saying the same thing. It’s not just me. And it felt safe,” she said.

“But if I hadn’t come here, I was at the point that I was going to kill myself, because there was no way I could go on.

“I had no money. He kept me paying the bills even though I worked part time, I’d lost my family. I’d lost all my grown-up children because of him. He isolated me completely.

“And I felt so broken and invisible and ashamed. I couldn’t tell anybody what was going on. And so this was my last chance. If I hadn’t had this, I wouldn’t be here now. And my daughter wouldn’t have a mother. That’s how bad it got.”

Samantha, who now has a full-time job, took part in the charity’s Freedom Programme and the Recovery Toolkit course and was able to leave the relationship and deal with continued harassment and stalking from her ex.

“Living on eggshells all the time is a horrible place to be. It is exhausting, physically and emotionally exhausting and you’re so washed out,” she said.

“But by the end of the course, the people on it had completely transformed. You suddenly realise I’m not alone. And I have friends and people that care about me if I live or die.”

She said of Camilla: “She is really understanding. She just gets it. You can see it in her face, she really wants to help people.”

Ursula Lindenberg, who co-founded the charity with fellow domestic abuse survivors Aimee Coppard and Farha Rasul, said: “Beyond crisis support, there’s not much available nationally, not on the scale that it’s needed really, to support people to recover and thrive.

“Having the duchess here to visit VOICES and learn about the work we do with other women around recovery means a huge amount, because we know that she is a staunch supporter of the rights of women and girls to live free from fear and violence.”