Survivor and insight network
At Alpha Vesta we continue to aspire to be relevant and innovative. It is through our Survivor and Insight Network that we are able to work closely with survivors, businesses, organisations, employers, professionals, workforces and communities. Working and learning from people who have experienced or been impacted by domestic abuse to feed into future training and awareness campaigns.
The Alpha Vesta Survivor and Insight Network offers the opportunity to share any lived experience and expertise in a variety of different ways. Our focus is to provide a safe space for those impacted by Domestic Abuse to feel heard and the value of these shared experiences to go on to influence and help others. They may have experienced domestic abuse directly themselves or been a work colleague, employer, member of the community, family member or friend.
Our Survivor’s Symposium forms the umbrella group of our network that sits across our Community Advocate & Employer Insight Group and our Survivors Empowerment Group. The Symposium is made up of Alpha Vesta Ambassadors, Survivors of Domestic Abuse, Employers, Professionals in HR and Community Leaders. Collectively, the Symposium aims to identify relevant and clear areas of focus in order to gather insight and experience from our groups.
It is the power of ground level insight that provides the opportunity to shape future best practice, better understanding of the complexities and with early intervention, the opportunity to save lives.
Meet our Ambassadors
Leading our Survivor and Insight Network to ensure frontline and lived experience continue to lie at the heart of Alpha Vesta
Natalie Queiroz, MBE
Natalie is the Survivor of one of the most horrific attempted Domestic Homicides of our time, where she was stabbed 24 times by her partner while 8 months pregnant. Miraculously, both Natalie and her baby daughter survived, however, she continues to manage both the physical and psychological scars of that day. Natalie is now a youth violence & trauma specialist, Anti-Knife Crime speaker, TEDx Speaker and International Author of her book ‘Still Standing’.
As well as an Ambassador for Alpha Vesta, Natalie co-wrote and co-trains alongside Lucy in our ‘Impact of Domestic Abuse on Young People – Extra-Familial Harm’ Public Training Session as well as advises on pilot projects and programmes, providing recovery and resilience resources and training. Natalie was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022.
Sharon Bryan
Sharon has worked in the Domestic Abuse field for 25 years both on a regional and national platform. She began her career working in a Women’s Aid refuge before moving on to develop and manage the first IDVA service in Westminster, London, UK in 2004.
From 2009 to 2020 She was the Domestic Abuse Consultant for the City of Westminster Council, co-located in Children’s Services and Early Help. Sharon now runs her own Consultancy as well as being ‘Head of Partnerships and Development’ at the NCDV (National Centre for Domestic Violence) which provides civil protective orders to victims of domestic abuse. Sharon is a survivor of domestic abuse and violence, and her aim has always been to be the person that she wishes had been there for her when she was experiencing domestic abuse. To this end, Sharon has worked with thousands of victims and survivors of domestic abuse over the last 25 years.
Aims of the Survivor and Insight Network
- Shared experiences will go on to inform future awareness and training sessions across communities.
- Survivors and those with powerful ground level insight will have the opportunity to shape future best practice.
- Sharing lived experiences will offer whole communities and workforces a framework to understand some of the complexities of domestic abuse for victims and survivors.
- Early intervention saves lives – this is the opportunity to prevent domestic abuse homicides.
An inspirational fight for survival
- Natalie’s story will inspire you; as despite her life changing immeasurably, she has gone on inspire others in many different ways which she will share in her story.
- Natalie campaigns around changing the narratives and stereotypes that we have around domestic abuse. It really can happen to anyone.
- She has gone on to become an expert in knife and gang crime, where she speaks to young people in referral units and schools around the reality of knife crime.
Contact Us
We use Brevo (previously called Sendinblue) as our marketing platform. By submitting this form, you acknowledge that the information you provided will be transferred to Brevo for processing in accordance with their terms of use