We are a dedicated and diverse team of people working since 1985 in the domestic abuse sector. Our team comes from many different communities. Some have lived experience and some with worked experience – constantly learning from each other. We are passionate about our work together with adults and children who are living with abuse, and work with other teams, organisations and within our communities.
Our foundations are in working with female victims and survivors of domestic abuse. This started with a refuge and a single women’s safe house in Portsmouth. Here we could support women more effectively if they had additional complexities such as substance misuse or mental ill health.
In 2010, we changed our model to You First, to meet the changing face of domestic abuse, opening our doors to male victims. We embraced our learning and increased our knowledge about how domestic abuse can be impacted by intersecting issues including BAME, LGBTQ+, and where a person lives.
This led to developing teams to support work in different communities. Rural communities, for example, face different circumstances than urban areas, prompting the founding and growth of Dragonfly.
Experience, research, and accredited training informs all our interventions. We base our work on what matters to the person we are working with, individualised for their needs and wishes. During 2020/21, we understood that our work was changing again. We were not only working with individuals but also with families. We were also working with families/couples who didn’t want the relationship to end.
In 2021 You First changed to PARAGON
Our domestic violence and abuse teams deliver integrated interventions, holistic family work, and the successful Dragonfly programme with victims and survivors at the core of all we do. We have moved, as have many of our colleagues, to work more together and in partnership with individuals, communities and other agencies. With the feedback and comments we receive, we understood that ‘You First’ no longer represents how we perceive our values and our work.
Where do we work?
We are predominately based along the South Coast with teams working from Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, along to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Dorset and Somerset.