Sev Necati worked in
partnership with Sanctuary & Love Sport, to deliver our award winning project
“Women & Young People’s Safety Solution.”
We ran
another successful course in our local community centre, which is always very
popular. The course is specifically
designed for women and girls in personal safety and self-defence; it empowers
females and gives them essential life skills that can change their lives.
Sev worked with local
women and girls, all from various backgrounds, ages, and abilities, who had not
exercised for many years. Our programmes
provide a safe and inclusive teaching environment for women and girls to
increase strength, stamina and overall fitness levels as well as reducing
isolation and vulnerability of women and girls, because they may have experienced
pass or current trauma or victimisation.
We provide the best training
in the industry, we specialise in this area, having worked with thousands of
women and young people for many years and making a positive impact.
This
project also provides inspiration to the group in a number of ways, namely it
is a great opportunity for them to become active again and include sport as a
regular part of their lives. As well as forming
friendships and bonds with other members of their community and improve their
overall mental health and well-being.
The training is fluid and organic and provides a wealth of knowledge and
skills and makes changes in lives of these women and girls that they may have
wished for many years!
The
Participant - Case Study - One
Jane, 36, Black Caribbean, single.
Please
tell us why you became involved in the project/activities?
I became involved in the course because I
thought it would help me to feel safe, walking on the street and going out
again if I knew self-defence. I had some
bad experiences inside the home I had experienced a serious sexual assault, if
I knew how to defend myself I would feel less anxious until I could get myself
into decent accommodation as I had been homeless. Also learning to deal with males, being in a
shelter and I have had inappropriate advances and have experienced racism as
well, being Black, I have been slapped, having been homeless for last 18
months.
It was really important to take part in the
course as I knew it could help me.
Please
tell us how participating helped you?
The sessions have helped me firstly on how to
keep safe and being more aware you can stop things happening which was one of
the best reminders that I have ever had.
It helped me become a lot calmer as I learned stuff I could keep safe
from the very first lesson you gave us, the information and tips were so
useful, being more observant I recognised a lot of changes and I was able to
stop two attacks happening which made me feel real good, during the course. I was able to put the techniques into
practice by putting what I learnt from the first session, keeping distance,
having been attacked violently three times, the physical techniques were really
empowering learning them so if I was ever in danger I would be in a better
chance of fighting back and surviving.
Being more happier and in my own skin, and
that has been the biggest change that by changing the way I talked to people
has changed the way I feel, my mind set and it has assisted me in changing the
way I think and feel about myself and not because bad things have happened to
me it doesn’t define you and that people are helping me and continuing to help
me, which has assisted me in feeling good.
Please
tell us what has changed for you as a result of engaging with the project?
What has changed for me is we have got our
first investor to assist us in buying a property and so me and some others who
have also been homeless for a long time, will not continue to be homeless. Your course has assisted me in talking to
people about what happened to me, without falling apart, I am more confident. The investor has said that he feels safe to
trust investing in me and the others as I have shown I can grow, I am doing
something positive, he respects and admires me that I am able to focus, on what
is good, he can see that I am resilient and that I can grow from negative
experiences and interact with others in a positive way.
We spoke with the Diane awards and they have
agreed to support me and mentor me to work with me to get me back on my feet
which is amazing.
The services are also taking my cases
seriously and my case is being dealing with.
All the right people that are coming forward.
Where I am staying temporally there is no
tension and they are happy for me to stay.
I don’t feel badly or blame myself about what
has happened anymore, so I am giving myself understanding and being kinder to
myself and moving on with my life. My
thinking has changed and this has really assisted me, especially when we did
the 121 work it has had a huge impact on me.
Last thing I would like to say, in my mind I
always said I would never be successful, things will never work out, who would
want to have a relationship with me, men because of my experiences who would want
to get involved with me romantically I don’t need to keep doing that I am
continuing with work. Before all of this
I was winning awards for becoming an inspiring architect and things went from
bad to worse and I questioned myself if I would be an architect and I believed
that. I now know that doesn’t have to be
true and I can still be successful in my career and have a good husband this is
not closed to me.
Sev you are a real source of inspiration for me. The Universe
has been sending me all kinds of reminders recently. The message I have taken
on board is that it's OK to heal and become STRONGER as a result of the bad
things you go through. I'm very glad you choose to help people rather than let
whatever you have gone through hold you back. This helps me to focus on there
is life after everything I have gone through. I can have a good life.
Thank you for your kindness and choosing to offer me help.
Some of the Females
Comments
"I
absolutely loved being in a group of women, all of us with different
experiences, all of us with different abilities."
"There
was a feeling of support & warmth between us which helped me feel able to
do the course with confidence."
I found Sev to be a strong,
approachable, direct teacher."
"It
was great to use the community centre for a strengthening exercise like
this."
"I
am someone that struggled with learning physical activity – I struggled in PE
at school, which knocked my confidence around my ability to be physical for 30
years. Learning the hits and gaining strength over the weeks was a
revelation."
"I
enjoyed working closely with local women and getting to know new people."
"Sev was funny &
open, but mostly she was fierce, empowering & no nonsense, she helped us
feel like they could be the same."
"I
feel more-sure of myself & my ability to look after myself."
"The
practical training was good & although I don't like physical exercises it
was a good way to understand where my fitness levels were at."
"Information
& visual practical’s were really useful & easy to commit to
memory."
"Being
with people of all ages & experiences really stood out."
"Sev
really knows what she is talking about."
"I
now understand how to avoid situations & ask for proper help."
"I
will keep on working on my self-confidence.
And definitely not feeling as vulnerable as before!"
"Definitely
good knowledge that can help in a complicated situation."
"Taking
part in a community practical activity has encouraged me to get involved with
other projects as they occur"
"Sev,
the trainer was inspiring - knows her stuff!"
"I
really enjoyed it, it was a fantastic course!"
"Considering
the amount of time & classes, I think it was really good."
"The
course was very informative, very interesting & enlightening & I am
happy I was part of it."
"The course was very informative."
"The
trainer taught us some very useful self-defence techniques if we were put in a
threatening situation."
"Sev was very knowledgeable &
answered any questions put to her."
"The
course was very helpful & I feel more confident in my approach to life
instances."
"I feel I can handle difficult
situations."
"Good
tutor, Good instruction -Good Knowledge."
"I've come away with new life
skills I can use. I am also
fitter."
"I
feel better about myself. I feel I can
cope if something bad happens. I like
myself. I like that I can be
strong."
"I have a sense of belonging."
"I
increased my confidence; met lovely people & learned how to defend
myself."
"I feel more empowered &
confident."
"Really
enjoyed the environment in the sessions - supportive, serious yet
humorous."
"My confidence & awareness on
the streets has increased.”
"This
course built my stamina, tested my physical strength."
"Thoroughly enjoyed the physical
activity & it made me want to continue being fitter & learning more
about self-defence."
"The
course was fun!"
The
Participant - Case Study - Two
Sam, Welsh, 55, single, no children.
Please
tell us why you became involved in the project/activities?
I became involved in the course because I
wanted to do some physical activity to get my body moving as I am not currently
exercising, and learn some self-defence moves so I can keep myself safe when I
am on the street and learn some useful information, in feeling safe and being
confident when I was out and about.
Also being part of a community for a while
and be a group of women all female group was really important to me, as I live
on my own and sometimes feel alone and isolated.
The course sounded really interesting and it
was something I wanted to do.
Please
tell us how participating helped you?
The sessions have helped me learn new skills
and learn to use my body to protect myself.
I enjoyed learning and I enjoyed being part of a group where I was
learning with other women and who were supporting one another.
Feeling that energy was great, learning from
other people’s experiences and sharing with them from all walks of life was
really interesting to me.
When I was doing the drills I didn’t think
that I was that fit, and I felt more energised after wards, each session gave
me that and I started to feel fitter. I
could feel the difference in mental and physical well-being, I felt I had done
something positive as I wouldn’t normally be able to do those exercises but
with your encouragement and the support of the group, it was really felt that I
had done something positive.
Sometimes I can be on my own, and I feel
isolated it is good to be with other people and share positive experiences and
participate in exercise and sport.
The different ages and abilities made me feel
we can do more than we think we can.
Please
tell us what has changed for you as a result of engaging with the project?
What has changed for me is when I am out and
about now I have noticed that I am more aware when I am in areas that I am not
familiar with, I sit near the driver to feel safer, noticing where I will get
help if I needed, like noticing where the alarms are on platforms.
You have also inspired me to want to do some
more energising activities that will enable me to continually stay fit. I am being more sensible about the decisions
I make and making plans when I am travelling and not having all of my
belongings with me and only taking what I need with me, so your tips were
really useful. The positive impact the
discussions and tips were really useful and I am putting them into practice.
It was really well organised course with
clear instruction’s, that was really good, so you didn’t have people that
wasted time, which I have found on other courses I have attended.
Everything was very clear, in terms of
commitment and what is required from us, which is really important and it
worked really well for me. The centre
was good, the size and location, the timings were good and these things were
all very important to me. You were professional and this came across, so thank
you!
All names
of participants have been changed to protect their identity.
If you are looking for sessions, classes, courses, workshops, projects and
programmes that are both engaging, interactive and fun, but also informative
and educational then please contact us at:
info@sevnecatitraining.com
If you think that you would like to get involved in our projects then
please get in contact. Our aim is to
reduce violence and the fear of violence especially towards females and young
people and we do this by delivering empowering and inspiring projects to the
local community. Please contact us: info@sevnecatitraining.com
