« Back to "Policy blog"

Ruth Davies is the Communications Officer at SafeLives. In this series she'll interview a different team member every month – over a nice cup of tea.

David Evans is a Training Co-ordinator at SafeLives.

Ruth: Hi Dave, could you start by telling me a bit about how you came to work for SafeLives?

Dave: I was working as a recruitment consultant and then I saw the light! It’s a good career for some people, but I wanted to do something that put more of a priority on social good. So I left that job and started doing some temp work, and that’s how I came across SafeLives. I initially joined what’s now known as the Knowledge Hub, and when that contract came to an end I applied for a permanent position with the Learning and Accreditation Programme (LAP) team, which is where I am now.

And what does your role in LAP involve?

Well I’m a training co-ordinator, and I mainly look after the Foundation level Idva training programme. So it’s our national training programme for people who are working as Idvas, and it gives them a recognised qualification. We have two ‘semesters’ of training each year – Autumn and Spring – and I just make sure it all runs smoothly. So it’s making sure that all the learners are attending the course and completing their work, and that the trainers have got everything they need to do a great job.

What do you think is the most exciting thing that your team is doing at the moment?

We’ve got several different training programmes and they’re all really valuable to the sector, but for me the one that stands out at the moment is the Domestic Abuse Matters programme. It’s a really fantastic programme set up to support police forces in dealing with domestic abuse. It’s for first responders – so anyone in the police who comes into contact with someone experiencing domestic abuse – as well as others at different levels in the force. It’s had a really great start over the last year or so, and I think it’s going to have a real impact.

What would you say is your favourite part of the job?

I think my favourite thing is when we’re reminded of the bigger picture. We can get locked into the operational nitty gritty when we’ve got lots of courses running and we have deadlines to hit, but it’s stepping back and looking at how many Idvas we’ve trained, the effect it’s had on their clients, and the bigger picture of how we’re helping to end domestic abuse. It’s very easy to feel good about what we do, even when we have frustrating or difficult days.

Lovely. And is there a moment that stands out to you as a particular highlight of your time at SafeLives so far?

I received a card from a learner once which was lovely – I still have it. We find with some of the learners that they can have quite challenging personal lives as well as work lives, and we supported this person at a difficult time which she obviously really appreciated. Realising that just with a simple act on our part we’d helped out this person and had an impact on them was really nice, so that meant quite a lot to me.

You can find out about all of our courses by visiting our training pages