Sudbury’s Compassion charity dance-a-thon to shine spotlight on support available for victims of domestic abuse

A day of dancing in Sudbury will shine the spotlight on the support available for domestic abuse victims, as a local charity seeks new avenues to raise its profile.

Compassion is hosting a sponsored ‘dance-a-thon’ at Prado Lounge on Market Hill from noon to 10pm on Friday, June 14.

Led by dance instructors and featuring donated prizes, the event aims to raise funds and awareness to the support services offered by the charity.

Tracey Barton, trustee at Compassion, said that, as a small team, they are keen to collaborate with other organisations, adding that they are grateful to Prado Lounge for their support.

“We want to put fun and fundraising together, while raising awareness on this serious matter,” she said.

“We’ve always known we need to think of ways to be self-funding, so we’re really trying to get out there and raise our profile. We need more volunteers and we need to raise funds.

“Recently, we have had an influx of people offering to volunteer. A lot of people who have had help from Compassion in the past, quite often like to come back and help in some way, because they want to give back.

“Often, people don’t know where to turn, but the more we put ourselves out there, the more people realise that support is there.”

Among the support schemes that Compassion is raising funds for is its new Voice (Victims of Intimate Coercive Experience) initiative.

The 10-week programme helps victims identify abusive behaviours, reflect on their trauma and learn more about self-regulation and self-care.

Tracey said “It’s wonderful how you see the transformation of people.

“At the start, sometimes they can’t engage, but slowly, you see them open up. It’s a privilege to witness that. It’s very rewarding to think we’re making a difference and helping these people.

“We’re also doing coffee mornings for women every Monday. We’re encouraging not just for victims to come along and have chat, but also anyone who would like to support someone is welcome.”

For more information about the Compassion dance-a-thon event at Prado Lounge – including team sponsorship forms – email admin@compass-ion.org.