We know that for survivors of domestic abuse and violence, engaging with public services can feel daunting. Your safety is our absolute priority. This project is designed by survivors, for survivors, to ensure you can share your views safely, without fear, and on your own terms.
Amplifying Survivor Voices is a safe, confidential, and survivor-led pathway to help us design housing services that truly understand and support you.
Participating in this project, or choosing not to, will never affect your housing status, your tenancy, or the services you receive. You are always in control of what you share and when.
What is this project?
The council is moving away from traditional, public resident forums, which we know are not accessible to everyone. Instead, we are creating a Survivor Advisory Panel. This is a private, specialist-facilitated group where survivors can:
- discuss safety, repairs, and support services
- shape how the council responds to domestic abuse
- help us create a blueprint for better, safer housing.
Meetings will be carried out with resident consultation at the forefront; they may be in person or on-line. We want you to tell us what works for you.
Why join the Survivor Advisory Panel (SAP)?
This is an opportunity to help shape the housing services that affect your everyday life. By joining us, you can help:
- Influence policy: Directly tell us what needs to change in our housing policies and support pathways.
- Improve safety: Help us understand what makes a home or an estate feel safe (or unsafe), so we can fix it.
- Create lasting change: Your insights will directly lead to service improvements that make Hillingdon a safer place for all survivors.
Your safety is our priority
We understand that confidentiality is non-negotiable. To ensure you feel safe and in control at all times, we have changed how we work.
- You are in control: You decide if, when, and how you share your experiences. There is no pressure.
- External specialist support: All engagement is facilitated by a professional, external Specialist VAWG Partner. They are experts in trauma-informed practice and are independent of the council’s standard housing team. Your details are kept with them, not the council.
- True anonymity: We are launching secure, encrypted digital tools (like anonymous forms) and offline options (like confidential drop-boxes) so you can share your views without ever being identified.
- Safe spaces: Every interaction is designed to be trauma-informed, ensuring you are respected and safe.
Interested?
We would love to hear from you. We have funds available to support your participation, including assistance with transport, childcare, digital access, and wellbeing support to ensure you can join us comfortably.
If you are curious, or if you are interested in joining the Survivor Advisory Panel, please contact our independent project partner in complete confidence.
Everything you share with our partner is kept confidential and will not be shared with the council without your explicit, informed consent.