Service Summary

We provide professional training in the key areas of Homicide Prevention Advocacy including Domestic Abuse and Stalking. This offering is based on an extensive career in policing, Adult Social Care and within the DA Sector, working with and for specialist services. 

Our training is insightful, authentic and will help to influence positive change and enhanced understanding in any organisation. 

The training offerings explores risk identification and management and offers powerful, impactive and educational opportunities for delegates. 

We focus not just on the 'what' but on the 'how', as applying knowledge and effecting change is key to enhancing advocacy in relation to this crucial homicide prevention work 

At Better Lives our passion is to share our knowledge, experience and expertise with other organisations in order to enhance their performance in relation to improving advocacy skills around homicide prevention. This includes domestic abuse, stalking and safeguarding of adults and children. 

Our consultancy service is tailored to your organisational needs and includes the development of internal policy and procedure, review of existing frameworks and identification of opportunities to improve. This is all completed taking account of relevant legislation and organisational priorities. We can enter as a 'critical friend' to review a range specialist processes including MARACs, Domestic Abuse Teams, employee engagement forums and quality assurance frameworks. We always ensure that those with lived experience are integral to any work we do. 

We provide an Independent Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) Chair service. Bridie is a qualified DHR chair having completed her Home Office ‘Conducting a domestic homicide review: online learning’ course and the accredited ‘AAFDA DHR Chair Training’ in July 2021.

Bridie has a range of valuable experience which allow her to bring a wide perspective and victim focused approach to the chairing role and the authoring of DHR reports.

Bridie has experience as a Police Family Liaison Officer, qualified and experienced in both Crime and Road Traffic deployments. Bridie understands the importance of the bereaved family being integral to the process and her approach is to engage in a way suitable to each families needs and preferences.

Bridie is an experienced member of her local DHR panel and DHR steering group and now authors Individual Management Reports (IMRs) and chronologies for those she is involved with as a panel member locally.

Bridie is able to provide chair and authoring services across the UK.

Better Lives offer an Independent Multi Agency Risk- Assessment Conference (MARAC) chair service.

If your organisation, Police service or local authority are struggling to manage the chairing of your MARAC meetings, Bridie can provide an experienced and trained Chair service. This can often be facilitated at short notice and provided on a short or longer term basis.

Bridie's approach is focused on homicide prevention advocacy and ensuring meetings are effective, efficient and purposeful.

Bridie has experience of attendance at many MARACS, both as a Police representative and as a victim-survivor advocate from a DA Specialist IDVA service. She was responsible for creating and implementing a MARAC auditing process for a local authority and working with key stakeholders to look at improving the process and enhancing outcomes for those at High Risk from domestic abusers. 

Whilst ensuring victim-survivors, including children, are a central focus at the meetings in terms of safeguarding, Bridie ensures that the accountability of the alleged perpetrator is highlighted and brought into focus in the actions being agreed.