Own My Life Course

Own My Life Course Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Own My Life Course, Charitable organisation, Sunderland.

We're an innovative, creative & educational 12-week course training practitioners to support women to regain ownership of their lives after they've been abused by a partner.

Time to introduce another brilliant member of the Own My Life team. Meet Hannah Gardner โ€” Girls Course Co-Trainer, curre...
04/09/2026

Time to introduce another brilliant member of the Own My Life team.

Meet Hannah Gardner โ€” Girls Course Co-Trainer, currently working with Natalie to deliver pilot facilitator training for Inspired to...Own My Life.

Hannah also has the joy of working as the Survivor Support Lead with Restored โ€” a Christian charity equipping the Church to stand against domestic abuse and supporting survivors. With over 950 women, Restored has the largest network of survivors in the country. You can find them at restored-uk.org.

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ž๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ซ?
Most songs will get me on the dance floor, I love a boogie! But Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners is a good shout.

๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐š๐ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐›๐ž?
Flying โ€” I'd fly all around the world, but most importantly, I'd fly to visit my family in Australia.

๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐›๐ž?
I'd love to play guitar! I've been trying to learn for years but I'm too distractable to practise.

๐–๐ก๐ข๐œ๐ก ๐›๐ข๐ฌ๐œ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
A Jammie Dodger.

๐๐ข๐ง๐ž๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐จ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐š?
Yes, absolutely yes. Pizza has no rules, pineapple is good, enjoy your life.

๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐š๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐š๐ฅ๐ค, ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐œ๐ก ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ?
Emus. I wouldn't want to cross one.

๐Ž๐ง๐ž ๐ฌ๐ง๐š๐œ๐ค ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ž?
Corn chips. I practically live off them anyway!

๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ž๐œ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐š๐๐ฏ๐ข๐œ๐ž ๐š ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐š๐ง ๐ก๐š๐ฌ ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
"Don't downplay your skills or abilities. If you think you can do something, go for it โ€” apply for that job even if you don't meet every single requirement. Most men would."

We are so glad to have Hannah in the Own My Life sisterhood!

Thames Valley Police has launched Empower โ€” a peer support group for officers and staff who have been subjected to men's...
01/09/2026

Thames Valley Police has launched Empower โ€” a peer support group for officers and staff who have been subjected to men's abuse.

It grew from a 12-week Own My Life course delivered internally, supported by Hope After Harm. They're now on their second cohort.

"We're not immune. We are the same as everyone else, and we do experience domestic abuse."

This is what it looks like when an institution decides to take this seriously.

We are so proud to be part of this.

Read the full story:

Thames Valley Police is one of the first forces in the country to offer tailored domestic abuse support to its staff

"This course is so worth funding, it is deeply empowering and healing. It very likely is a life-saving resource. It not ...
25/08/2026

"This course is so worth funding, it is deeply empowering and healing. It very likely is a life-saving resource. It not only positively impacts on the individual, but can have an amazing impact on our relationships with each other in society as a whole."

If you work in commissioning, funding or policy โ€” this is what your investment makes possible.

www.ownmylifecourse.org/commissionus

Time to introduce another member of the Own My Life team. Meet Andrew "Baggy" Collins โ€” Administrator, and the person w...
22/08/2026

Time to introduce another member of the Own My Life team. Meet Andrew "Baggy" Collins โ€” Administrator, and the person who keeps the orders, finances and training event bookings running smoothly behind the scenes - thanks for keeping us ship-shape Andrew!

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ž๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ซ?
YMCA by the Village People

๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐š๐ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐›๐ž?
It's got to be flying (no points for originality!)

๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐›๐ž?
Playing the violin

๐–๐ก๐ข๐œ๐ก ๐›๐ข๐ฌ๐œ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ ๐š๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐š๐ฅ?
Jaffa Cakes

๐๐ข๐ง๐ž๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐จ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐š: ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ...
I wouldn't choose it myself but it's a pizza, so I'd still eat it.

๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐š๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐š๐ฅ๐ค, ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐œ๐ก ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ?
Cattle

๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐œ๐š๐ง ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ฌ๐ง๐š๐œ๐ค ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ž. ๐‚๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฒ.
Any plain chocolate bar

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ฆ๐ข๐œ๐ซ๐จ-๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ?
If I'm referring, in speech or writing, about a couple, putting her name first.

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐›๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ž๐œ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐š๐๐ฏ๐ข๐œ๐ž ๐š ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐š๐ง ๐ก๐š๐ฌ ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
Let's get married.

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐š ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ž๐›๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐š๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ?
Marking those spam emails spam before reading them so the senders don't get a read notification.

When Womenโ€™s Empowerment And Recovery Educators finish delivering Own My Life, something very simple happens. Women wri...
18/08/2026

When Womenโ€™s Empowerment And Recovery Educators finish delivering Own My Life, something very simple happens. Women write letters to women they will never meet. They write about what it felt like to arrive. What shifted. What they want her to know before she begins.

"Own My Life helped me understand how childhood trauma and abuse shaped my choices and relationships. I'm grateful to learn what love looks like, how to raise my children, and for the facilitators โ€” Donna, Jacky and Kirsty โ€” the women who walked with me and reminded me that I am not alone. If you are a survivor, reach for help. We:Are will make you feel at home."

Those letters are passed forward. Woman to woman.

Behind every number is a woman who sat in a group, read a journal and left knowing things about herself that she didn't ...
15/08/2026

Behind every number is a woman who sat in a group, read a journal and left knowing things about herself that she didn't know before.

We are proud of what this shows and we're not done.

Read the full report: www.ownmylifecourse.org

We were given a gift. Oluwayemisi Afuwape is an Own My Life facilitator for Stay Safe East โ€” one of England's only dom...
11/08/2026

We were given a gift. Oluwayemisi Afuwape is an Own My Life facilitator for Stay Safe East โ€” one of England's only domestic abuse services specifically for disabled women.

She wrote this poem as part of her work facilitating Own My Life, and has allowed us to share it.

An Empowerment Poem for the OML Participants

Women, Abuse, Empowerment.
Why does abuse happen?
It's due to ownership, entitlement & control.
Come as you are!
Be yourself!
You'll love it here!
You're brave, resilient and strong.
You're standing up for yourself.
You're taking the right step my love!
You're rebuilding your life as a matter of fact.
And you're doing well!
Kudos to you gal, for joining the group.
I commend you for showing up week-in, week out.
You're not meant to stay down!
And in this group, you wouldn't be judged.
We don't discriminate.
We wouldn't blame you!
Be yourself!
And watch you life blossom!
As you emerge into the real you.
Owning your life totally once again.
Empowered to strive, evolve emerge & glow!

By Oluwayemisi Afuwape

"Own My Life is life changing and gives you your power back." Find a course near you: ownmylifecourse.org/attend
07/08/2026

"Own My Life is life changing and gives you your power back."

Find a course near you: ownmylifecourse.org/attend

Friday 18 Sept: Join Sherry Hamby, Natalie Collins, Tim Woodhouse, Saira Akhtar and Tracie Faa-Thompson for this free on...
07/08/2026

Friday 18 Sept: Join Sherry Hamby, Natalie Collins, Tim Woodhouse, Saira Akhtar and Tracie Faa-Thompson for this free online event.

In this interactive session, there will be activities, discussion and opportunities for reflection. The event will be of interest to those working to with women subjected to abuse, mental health practitioners and anyone who cares about human flourishing.

Book now: https://www.ownmylifecourse.org/events-1/stronger-than-you-think

Victoria Mason has written about winning Volunteer of the Year โ€” and it is such a beautiful piece. She brought her 16-y...
04/08/2026

Victoria Mason has written about winning Volunteer of the Year โ€” and it is such a beautiful piece.

She brought her 16-year-old niece to the ceremony. She talks about why this award belongs to every woman who has ever told someone about Own My Life. And she talks about what it means to pass something forward.

Read it on our blog: https://www.ownmylifecourse.org/post/briefly-willingly-in-the-spotlight Mason Collins

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