Hi everyone

Well it's almost the weekend and the sun has put in an appearance and looks likely to stick around for at least a week, yipee!

I've been a bit silent on my blog for the last couple of weeks due to problems that meant that #OneVoice NEVER silenced had to go into crisis management and complete lock down after my real surname was revealed on Twitter, I've helped a lot of victims and because it is well known I am from Bolton it would have been very easy for a quick search to be done and hey presto an army of abusers knocking on my door and so the decision to lock down was made in order to protect both myself and my girls.  We still live in the same house that we were abused in so we had to act quickly to ensure our safety and I would like to thank the Police who have ensured that we are safe and looked after.  Yes I know some media stories have been done which reveal a picture of my ex but this was originally done by Chat Magazine against my wishes and so it was decided not to hide but to make sure I was fully protected.  It has always been well documented that Eve Thomas was not my real name but created in memory of my grandparents but this was also done to protect me and my girls.

I can confirm that Fifty Shades Of Abuse is now back on sale and I am so proud of all the brave victims and survivors but especially the two young ladies who have shared their childhood stories of living with domestic violence/abuse.  These brave women and men have shared their lives with us in a hope of raising awareness to the global problem of abuse and along with that have nominated a charity of their choice for a share of the total profits (please click here for a full list of the charities that will benefit.)  We have a wealth of ideas on how to raise funds for the brilliant #OneVoice charities, it doesn't just finish with the book and every 6 months the board of trustees will meet to share out the money equally.

We have also launched a logo competition with a local school here in Bolton, this is #OneVoice NEVER silenced giving back to the community and empowering our young, how awesome will it be for the winning child to see THEIR design on every #OneVoice NEVER silenced product - oh yes there is so much more in the pipeline to raise much needed funds for our wonderful charities we are only just beginning but please watch this space as more ideas are rolled out.  We have of course consulted with the staff at school and if the pupil wishes to remain anon then they of course will be protected.

When I visited with the kids from Smithills School I was astounded that almost ALL the pupils were unaware of Childline's telephone number or who to contact if they needed help - every single one of the 1340 pupils now know the numbers to call and as I left the school with the biggest smile on my face ever after spending the day with the whole school and staff I knew that if one of those kids needed help they would now know where to go, who to call and who to reach out to.  

You may have noticed that #OneVoiceBuddies is now protected on Twitter this is because we are very mindful that abusers may try to sneak in but we are monitoring it very closely and I ask that you all read this before coming along and joining us, we have had to put strict rules in place.  Whilst we endeavour to protect our victims/survivors as much as possible we all know that abusers are very clever so if you wish to discuss anything privately please email or dm.  We are not professionals but we are professional survivors and we want to help by listening, be a buddy, a mate, a friend but if you do need help we can guide you in the right direction too.  The tweets are managed by myself and another female survivor and the Facebook page by Tammie Hammock who is also a survivor.  

I need to address some points that have been made over the last couple of weeks.  Yes some victims/survivors asked for their chapters to be removed from the book, yes we asked for clarification that the chapters were their voice and they still were in control of their voice (we have to be very mindful that an abuser could have taken control again as we work with some very vulnerable people.)  This clarification caused a bit of a stink but I now hope that all can see that confidentiality is at the heart of #OneVoice NEVER silenced and we had to make sure that the voices were not replaced by an abuser, very easy as anyone who has gone through domestic violence/abuse will agree.  When I decided to do all this I made it my mission to protect anyone who came to me for help or to share their story and I will keep it my mission and promise until the day they cart me off in a box!

I work with and am guided by some pretty amazing people who share the #OneVoice NEVER silenced vision and although I have thanked them on Twitter I would like to take this opportunity to thank them here.  

Jim Gamble, Chief Super Bob Eastwood, Chief Inspector Conrad Trickett, Rachel Horman (National Family Legal Aid Lawyer of the year), Keith Newman (Highlights PR) Katie Magnet (anon because of her work in child protection), Henry O'Carroll, Irene (last name protected but a teacher of hearing impaired children,) Brigida Varley and Star Support, Danielle Baxter, Anna McCullock, DC Kenny Stark, Karina Wane (IDVA and criminal psychologist.) 

Now on to something very serious that I also need to clarify.  On the 01.11.10 I escaped 21 years of horrific abuse and began my journey to become a survivor.  My first visit to the police 18 years ago was not a good experience, I was told to go home and sort my relationship out even though I was pregnant and battered but how things have changed and when I finally escaped and walked into my local police station I was cocooned and made to feel safe.  In the last few months I have been made a victim again by our Civil/Family courts and although I have tried to fight this on my own (I couldn't afford a solicitor and I was too afraid to disclose and ask for help) I am now being held in contempt of court because I would not give an abuser my telephone number, yes that's correct I am now facing committal proceedings.  Now I can do one of two things, I can buy a cheap payg phone and give that number or I can make a stand and face being sent to prison, something that scares me a great deal.  I pleaded with the court and even stated that I was willing to give my details to them but not to an abuser but Mr Monaghan, the Court Manager ignored this and held me in contempt.  Yes I am petrified and yes I have ended up having to disclose the sexual assault after being forced into a corner (I just wanted to forget it all and move on with my life, my girls and I have been through enough) but now I'm faced with probably the hardest decision of my life, do I make a stand and raise a stink so no one else hopefully has to go through this ordeal or do I get the cheap phone?  I've got a lot of thinking to do........

I'm going to end on a lighter note - Chief Bob from Blackburn has agreed to arrest me and lock me up!!!! Now you might be thinking what on earth is she muttering on about :) There is a young, very brave man called #superjosh, he can be found on twitter.  Josh Wilson is 12 years old and has reoccurring brain stem tumour and post surgery neuromuscular disabilities but do you know what - HE'S ALWAYS SMILING and I wanted to help him and the amazing Refuge Charity.  Now I can't unfortunately do a parachute jump or swim with sharks because of my health problems but I can be locked up and so I will be sorting out a justgiving with his mum Dawn and Refuge too, a 50/50 split so please look out for the tweets and posts about this but in the meantime I hope you will support @running4reguge our marvellous DV police team from Cambridgeshire and #teamshark and #teamairborne who are all raising much needed funds for Refuge.

Work has begun on the next #OneVoice NEVER silenced book - The Child which should be ready by the end of August if all goes to plan and will contain true stories again but this time the author's are survivors of child abuse and each as with Fifty Shades Of Abuse will select a charity to receive a share of the total profits.  

I am currently working out proposals for ADT and AMCO, two of our leading monitoring security services here in the UK.  #OneVoice NEVER silenced would love for them both to provide cheaper systems for victims of domestic violence.  When I escaped we went into hiding for 2 days and we were not allowed to return until the house had been risk assessed and a police alarm and panic button installed and yes I had to use it a few times too!  The day after I gave evidence at trial the alarm was unfortunately removed which left me feeling very vulnerable and so I had a monitored alarm system installed which cost £360 plus £15 a month to be monitored, I go to bed every night knowing that if someone attempts to break into my home I have a security officer who comes over a speaker system and says the following:

"Intruder detected please identify yourself."  I then have two passwords, a good and a bad both words are nice words though so if an intruder is present and holding me or my girls hostage so to speak then they are not alerted and think I've got rid of the the security.  The system then appears to go dead with the officer saying "Thank you we will disconnect" really the cavalry is on it's way because every customer they have has an extensive record kept of risks etc.  I want this security and peace of mind for as many victims as possible, cocooning :)

Well have a good weekend everyone, the sun is shining which always makes me happy but also sad as I know from statistics that violence and abuse will only increase because the beer gardens will be overflowing.  

Stay safe and dream big.

#OneVoice NEVER silenced.

Eve x