Before we go for our festive break, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you – our Savera UK champions – for all your support in 2023.

It has been a year of exciting growth and development for Savera UK, with the implementation of the first year of our three-year strategy, our brand evolution and the launch of our Savera UK Learning Hub. We have expanded our 1-2-1 Direct Intervention services into Cheshire through our new partnership with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, John Dwyer, and we have welcomed eight new team members, with one more – our Youth and Education Officer – due to join us in January 2024. We are also recruiting for a Training and Development Manager to lead on our new Training and Education Project, which is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund

The festive break is a time for rest but also for reflection. As I look back, I see that we have achieved a great deal as a team this year, all steps towards our overall mission of ending ‘honour’-based abuse and harmful practices for good. However, we could not do this alone.

We would like to thank our partners, particularly Merseyside PCC and Cheshire PCC, and our funders, including the National Lottery Community Fund, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales, Smallwood Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation and The Henry Smith Charity. Thank you also to all of our individual donors and those who go out of their ways to fundraise for us. We are grateful to you for believing in us and providing us with the means, resources and platforms to raise awareness, help survivors and those at risk and challenge HBA and harmful practices in all forms.

We would also like to thank our Governance Board for for providing high quality leadership in the development of the organisation, our Advisory Board for their help and guidance, which is always appreciated, and our Savera UK Youth, who work tirelessly and never stop raising their voices to educate people about HBA and harmful practices and how to end them. They fill us with pride and are a constant source of hope for the future. Enormous appreciation also to our team, which is committed, passionate and never gives up on our mission to ensure change does happen and provide an outstanding intervention to our clients, ensuring their safeguarding is a priority 

Finally, we would like to thank and celebrate our brave clients, many of whom have shared their stories and experiences in our campaigns, in the hope that they will help others. Their strength and power is a constant source of inspiration for us. When we see them safe and flourishing in their ‘savera’ – their new beginning – we see what a world without HBA and harmful practices can look like and it pushes us to keep striving for that vision.

Wishing you all a safe, happy and restful festive break – see you in 2024!

Afrah Qassim

CEO & Founder

Savera UK