Phoenix Rising win business of the year for domestic abuse work

Officially launched in May 2021, Phoenix Rising is a community interest company that offers a wide range of support for domestic abuse victims, such as mental health sessions, wellbeing workshops, housing support, advice and guidance, and signposting to other services.

Both survivors of domestic abuse, the two-woman team of Emma Haselton and Debbie Taylor said that they launched the company, named 'Phoenix Rising - Domestic Abuse WA12', as they felt there were gaps in the system for victims, particularly for those in outer lying areas.

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Emma and Debbie run wellbeing workshops from their hub (Image: Phoenix Rising - Domestic Abuse WA12)
Debbie said: "The company is to help victims start living rather than just existing. We offer a wide range of support, but also educate people on abuse and encourage people to speak out and look for help.

"We work alongside other support networks and refer people to these services, so we see ourselves as something that helps join the dots across the board, because we did feel that there were gaps in the services in our journeys."

Emma and Debbie have also held pop up events about the company (Image: Phoenix Rising - Domestic Abuse WA12)
After initially keeping quiet about their services because of their own personal journeys, Emma and Debbie said that Phoenix Rising has "grown and evolved massively" since launching the community interest company.

Supporting well over 200 domestic abuse victims and receiving messages from people across the world, the pair say this emphasises the importance and necessity of their work in the community.

Due to this dedicated support network for victims around Newton and Earlestown, Phoenix Rising has been recognised as a vital service in the borough.

The company was recognised in Merseyside Police's 'Rootin For Newton' event last year, where community groups are awarded grants to support their services, and was also named the 'Social Impact Business of the Year' at the St Helens Business Awards last week.

Debbie and Emma said it has been amazing to receive such recognition (Image: Phoenix Rising - Domestic Abuse WA12)
Debbie added: "We were quiet for so long about what we do because it can be difficult to do that after our own journeys.

"But the more people that are aware of us means the more people that we can help, so it is amazing to have this recognition.

"Our work has also been quite healing for our own journeys, and after supporting well over 200 victims, we know that the demand is there for this."

Emma and Debbie also run a surplus food shelter under the Phoenix Rising banner in Earlestown, to offer further support to the wider community.

The pair is also hosting a shopping event on Friday, October 27 from 7pm at Cross Lane United Church, which aims to support market traders and the community.

Phoenix Rising's domestic abuse website can be found here.