Meet Ferdy, scheme manager of Beverley Lewis House

Ferdous (Ferdy) Khanam, is the locality manager at Beverley Lewis House (BLH). A supported housing service designed to bridge the gap between the need for immediate support and finding the most appropriate long-term placement for vulnerable women with learning difficulties.

Ferdy Khanam, Locality Manager at BLH

BLH is a refuge for those fleeing violence and abuse or who have an extensive history of trauma and related mental health challenges.

What kind of services and resources does BLH provide for survivors of domestic abuse?

BLH offers a range of resources for the support of residents coming out of trauma or just having experienced it.

We have in-house CBT therapists and art therapists attending weekly.

A Positive Behaviour Support Lead works on positive behaviour support around some of the behaviours residents may have inherited from the trauma using reinforcers to meet the function but change the behaviour.

We also have a Life Skills Coordinator who works tirelessly to provide a route for residents in our service to reaccess the community, whether in further education, voluntary, befriending and giving back or simply getting into employment.

We aim to ensure the ladies don’t feel as though life has stopped but only that it can get better.

How do you support domestic violence survivors in developing coping mechanisms?

We encourage the survivors to talk about the domestic violence and how this has impacted their thoughts, feelings and quite often their very poor mental health.

We offer key working sessions and sensory time to allow them to feel heeled.

We engage them in workshops to ensure their boundaries are set on their terms and they regain control around their safety.

We host mindfulness activities to activate the part of their wellbeing that looks positive and ensures they think about their positive future again.

We focus on building positive relationships and a sense of friendship within the service to allow them to not isolate and also see the difference in healthy relationships around them.

How many women are currently living at BLH?

Currently, at BLH, we have six ladies with us, who live in the service, but we also support two residents outside of the service.

We call this outreach support as they are independent. However, they still require an element of support to ensure they continue to uphold their boundaries in the community.

What is the typical length of stay?

Typically, the programme is set for two years.  However, we heavily rely on the resident being ready to leave. This could be months or even years.

How many support workers work at BLH?

Our fantastic team has been growing this year, we’re now a team of 15 people and still growing.

Can you explain what a typical week at BLH looks like?

There is no such thing as a typical week, but we try to aim for consistency. Depending on season and other factors this can change. However, we try to have workshops daily, such as cooking education, learning and roleplaying.

We have our one-to-one sessions where residents have time to reflect on goals with their key workers, that’s above the CBT therapist and art therapist. Some have their own therapy outside of the service they also engage in.

Community outings are also key and can consist of many different aspects. For example, we have our Arsenal player here who plays with Arsenal’s learning disabilities team.

What learning challenges/disabilities do women at BLH typically have?

All the women in the service are diagnosed with a learning disability.

We also find that the majority of them either have autism or are currently being assessed for it.

A lot of our residents also develop mental health issues, and this could be from past trauma, or before the trauma, but we have diagnoses of schizophrenia and personality disorders quite broadly.

What are the common challenges the women at BLH face when transitioning from BLH into independent living?

Quite often these ladies with their unique abilities, profound hurt and sense of understanding can all be misunderstood. As we specialise in this, it becomes difficult to express to others what we see and how their life should be in their control.

One of the biggest challenges we face is another service understanding their needs, but also already assuming the lack of capacity for most of them. It’s about the right place, the right support and the right way.

What kind of training and ongoing support do you receive as support workers?

As support workers it is an intense service, we offer additional face-to-face training in-house around behaviours.

Case meetings and debriefs to discuss behaviours.

Training is sourced from around the UK for specialist training.

Support workers are also offered clinical supervision (GROUP) to unload and offload the emotional impact this role may have on support workers without knowing.

How do you work with other community organisations and agencies to provide holistic support to domestic violence survivors?

We collaborate with many services, some of which may not just support those from domestic violence, but we work together to cater to that so that our residents can achieve and access what they need.

Working with charities like Woman4woman around sexual health and Woman Aid for any additional financial help our ladies may need to access.

Around Christmas, we also have a heap of donations from many organisations to ensure these ladies do not feel isolated and can still celebrate the amazing steps they have already taken.

What are some ways the community can get involved and support the work of BLH, in other shelters in the country, in helping survivors of domestic abuse?

Make resources available for women who are going through domestic violence.

Currently, we are working with the NHS to navigate around the domestic abuse, stalking, harassment and honour-based violence (DASH) risk assessment.

This is to enable police officers and professionals who may visit someone going through domestic violence to identify what is going on and how they can help.

It’s accessible and available for those who have needs and can’t always verbalise the abuse they're going through.

It's crucial to involve the survivors in the work you do. Our current safeguarding champ and volunteer resident is working on accessible ways to understand safeguarding and how to prevent it from happening to her.