North Down and Ards Women’s Aid’s Our Housing and Domestic Abuse training course took the top prize in the Chartered Institute for Housing’s all-Ireland Awards 2025.North Down MLA Connie Egan has congratulated the local branch of the women’s charity, after it scooped the award jointly with Housing Rights, for their collaboration on an immersive training tool for practitioners on the lived experience of victims of domestic abuse.Commending the charity, Ms Egan said: “The work that North Down and Ards Women’s Aid and Housing Rights have done to amplify the voices of domestic abuse victims who have experienced homelessness and insecure housing situations is extremely powerful, and will leave a lasting impact.”“The support services Women’s Aid provide to women and children affected by domestic violence and sexual abuse is of critical importance, and central to ensuring robust and supportive mechanisms are in place to meet the needs of victims and their families. “This project is just one example of how they provide support, raise awareness and create spaces for victim’s voices to be heard,” she said.“The Our Housing and Domestic Abuse training course draws on the knowledge of women with lived experience of domestic abuse to create a Virtual Reality (VR) training technology.”She said the ’innovative project enables domestic abuse and homelessness practitioners to see the challenges faced by domestic abuse victims first hand, fostering understanding and empathy’. “It is brilliant to see our local branch of Women’s Aid leading the way to shape projects which truly listen to those affected by domestic abuse. I will continue to work with Women’s Aid to support their work however I can.”
