Marking Domestic Abuse Awareness Month, we’re celebrating ten years of partnership with Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS), helping families across Yorkshire take positive steps towards rebuilding their lives and making memories that last.
At The Principle Trust Children’s Charity, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to enjoy happy experiences, feel safe and spend precious time with their family. For families affected by domestic abuse, finding that time together can be particularly challenging as they navigate the emotional and practical difficulties of rebuilding their lives.
That’s why our partnership with Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS) is so important.
For ten years, our organisations have worked together to help families access opportunities to step away from everyday pressures, reconnect and create positive memories following trauma.
Working together to support families across Yorkshire
IDAS is Yorkshire’s largest specialist domestic abuse charity, providing practical and emotional support to people affected by domestic abuse. Its services include refuge accommodation, safety planning and community support for children and young people.
Through our partnership, families referred by IDAS teams covering Harrogate and Craven, York, Scarborough and South Yorkshire can access free respite breaks with The Principle Trust.
Our family-friendly holiday homes offer a change of environment where parents and carers can take a breath, children can enjoy new experiences, and families can spend uninterrupted time together away from the challenges they may have faced.
We recognise that a holiday cannot undo trauma or replace the specialist support families need. However, a break can provide valuable breathing space, opportunities to reconnect and the chance to create happy memories at a time when families may need them most.
Understanding the challenges families face
The circumstances experienced by families referred to The Principle Trust highlight why this support matters.
Of the families referred through our domestic abuse partnership during the 2026 season:
64% were experiencing financial hardship or living on a low income.
45% were living in refuge or safe accommodation following domestic abuse.
45% had additional needs, disabilities or neurodivergence identified within the family.
These figures demonstrate that families may be navigating several challenges at once. Alongside the effects of domestic abuse, financial pressures, additional needs and the disruption of moving into safe accommodation can make it difficult to find opportunities for rest and positive family experiences.
A respite break offers families the chance to enjoy time together in a different setting, without the usual demands of everyday life taking centre stage.
Elizabeth’s story: Finding time to reconnect
One family who experienced the difference a break can make was Elizabeth and her children.
After years of extreme coercive control, Elizabeth went through a traumatic separation. Although she had escaped an unsafe situation and was working towards a new chapter for herself and her children, the experience had left her feeling isolated and uncertain about the future.
Without family support nearby, even getting out and about with the children could feel difficult.
Elizabeth explained:
“I didn’t have the confidence to go very far with the children. I had no family support locally and felt very isolated. I was finally out of a dreadful situation, but I felt lost and didn’t really know what to do.”
A respite holiday with The Principle Trust gave Elizabeth and her children the opportunity to spend valuable time together, away from the pressures and challenges they had been facing.
It offered them the chance to enjoy being together as a family, share new experiences and create happy memories during a period of significant change.
Reflecting on the experience, Elizabeth said:
“It made me realise how lucky I was to have escaped such a dreadful situation for the safety of not only myself, but my children. The holiday was so lovely and gave us the time to be together as a family and share wonderful memories, which the children still talk about today.”
Elizabeth’s experience is a powerful reminder that, following difficult and traumatic circumstances, positive family experiences can have a lasting place in the journey forward. The memories created during a break can become something families continue to cherish long after they return home.
Why respite matters
For children who have experienced domestic abuse, the effects of trauma and disruption can reach into many aspects of family life. Parents and carers may also be coping with the emotional impact of their experiences while trying to provide stability and reassurance for their children.
Having time away together can offer a welcome opportunity to pause.
Children can enjoy being children, explore new activities and experience moments of fun and freedom. Parents and carers can have some breathing space, enjoy time with their children and focus on creating positive experiences together.
Laura Sykes, Service Delivery Manager at The Principle Trust, said:
“For families affected by domestic abuse, a holiday can mean so much more than a few days away. It provides an opportunity to step away from everyday pressures, spend positive time together and create happy memories.
“For children who may have experienced significant disruption or trauma, it offers the chance to enjoy new experiences, have fun and simply be children. We’re proud to work alongside IDAS to help families access these opportunities as they begin to rebuild their lives.”
Our approach recognises that every family’s circumstances are different. Respite is not a solution to every challenge, but it can be a valuable part of a wider network of support, offering time together and opportunities to build positive memories.
Ten years of working together
As we mark ten years of partnership with IDAS, we’re proud of what collaborative working can make possible.
By bringing together IDAS’s specialist domestic abuse support and The Principle Trust’s family-focused respite provision, we can help families access opportunities that might otherwise feel out of reach during an incredibly challenging time in their lives.
We’re grateful to the IDAS teams who work tirelessly to support families across Yorkshire, and to everyone who helps make our respite breaks possible.
Most importantly, we’re thankful to the families who have shared their experiences with us. Their stories help demonstrate why creating opportunities for children and families to spend positive time together matters.
At The Principle Trust, our mission remains to support children and families across Yorkshire facing life’s toughest challenges, helping them enjoy precious time together and make memories that last.
If you’d like to support our work and help more families access these opportunities, your support can make a meaningful difference.
Together, we can help create brighter moments for families as they move forward.
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