The Aims of Acorns

• To offer a safe, supportive, accepting environment for children and young people who have experienced domestic violence
• To co-ordinate and develop support services for children, young people and families
• To facilitate communication between statutory and voluntary agencies working with children who have experienced domestic violence
• To place the experience of domestic violence within a societal framework, which acknowledges injustice on the grounds of race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, class and age

Objectives

• To inform children and young people about where they can access help and support
• To work in partnership with statutory and voluntary agencies towards providing effective services to support children, young people and families who have experienced domestic violence and abuse

Who is the service for?

Acorns is open to children and young people between the ages of 6 and 18 years who live in North Tyneside and who are living with the effects of domestic violence.  The project welcomes all children and young people within our age range and area regardless of their race, culture, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation.  And it is free. 

Who are the counsellors?

The project has a small team of workers who have a range of experience in counselling and therapeutic play techniques.  They are used to working with people from many different backgrounds and cultures and with a wide range of personal issues.

How can counselling and therapeutic play help children and young people?

For children and young people, the emotional burden of coping with domestic violence and abuse within their family can influence the course that their life takes throughout childhood, adolscence and often into adulthood.

Children and young people may seem to be very resilient on the outside, but inside the pain and distress caused by witnessing and or directly experiencing domestic violence and abuse is very real.  By listening to children and young people and through therapeutic play in a safe, accepting sapce we hope to help children and young people to gradually make sense of their situation, begin to understand that they are not to blame or responsible for the violence, to explore and express their feelings verbally and through play and creative mediums and to have a positive experience.