Sue's story

Like many, the events of 2020 prompted a period of personal reflection and, after 11 years of service, I took the decision to resign from my then post as Deputy Director with a well-known charity.

Having spent 30 years working in the charitable sector, with a focus on supporting vulnerable families and children, I had held senior responsibility for a vast array of services.

However, my work passion has always been the prevention and early identification of Domestic Abuse, so when I saw an advert for Hestia’s Head of Domestic Abuse Prevention covering 9 months maternity cover, I could not resist. 

When I joined the organisation, I had no plans at all to stay beyond the contract time. However, here I am, some 18 months later, on a permanent contract! 

The work of the Domestic Abuse Prevention team is completely unique and innovative. We believe that ending domestic abuse and sexual violence is ‘Everyones Business’ and that EVERYONE in society has a role to play in responding to abuse. There are 2 streams of work: 

• UK Says No More Campaign (incorporating Safe Spaces and the ANI code word scheme, digital offer Bright Sky and Online Safe Spaces)
• Everyones Business (works directly with employers to support them in their delivery of an internal employee response to domestic abuse (includes policy advice, training, respond to abuse helpline and website, and the ground breaking Independent Domestic and Sexual Violence Advocacy (IDVA and ISVA) service).

I love the fact that each day is different and filled with new possibilities. I have an incredible and skilled team whose approach and vision makes the work all that more rewarding, and I also get to work closely alongside my hugely talented colleagues within the wider FUNC team.

Sitting at the heart of it all is a shared determination to honour the victim/survivor journey, create a domestic abuse ‘curious’ society, and ultimately save lives. 

Sue joined Hestia in March 2021, having worked in the Social Care field for over 20 years and at Senior Executive Level for around 15 years. Sue holds a BSc in Pyschology, a MSc in Conflict Resolution and Mediation, and various additional post graduate qualifications including Systemic Family Therapy. On a practitioner level she has significant expertise in Children Act Proceedings (Private and Public Law) with specialist knowledge of domestic abuse, as well as Family Conflict and Child Contact Interventions. Sue held national strategic lead responsibility for Domestic Abuse for three separate organisations and has extensive experience of working with children affected by domestic abuse and individually with children, survivors and perpetrators. 

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Career opportunities

We're looking for people with a passion to change lives, and who identify with our values: respectful, genuine, dedicated, collaborative, courageous. If Hestia sounds like your dream employer, then click here to see our current opportunities.

The Hestia Approach

The Hestia Approach represents our commitment to making the most effective interventions possible in the lives of those who use our services.

Our approach is based on a single principle: in order to add real value to people’s lives it is essential that we work with them as equals. Our expertise and experience of working with people on their recovery journeys is valuable, and we believe this gives us a great deal to contribute, but we never impose our ideas.

Read more about the Hestia Approach

Equality and Diversity

Hestia is proud to be a Disability Confident employer and offers a lot of support to candidates who may require extra help with their disability. To ensure we can support you to the best of our ability, please ensure you complete our Equality and Diversity form as accurate as possible.

We will only highlight any potential disability to our hiring managers so they are aware they may need to offer reasonable adjustments, not only for the interview process but during your employment with Hestia as well. All other information from the Equal Opportunities form is strictly confidential and only available to our HR department.

Samantha Uwadiae, Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Hestia said:

“What excites me about joining Hestia is the organisation’s genuine commitment towards creating a more equitable, diverse and inclusive organisation. I appreciate their dedication towards wanting to build an inclusive culture, courage to challenge themselves and admit more needs to be done and willingness to work in collaboration with staff, volunteers, and service users to identify, understand and address inequities. So, their people feel respected and more able to bring their authentic and full selves to work, free of discrimination and barriers”.