Acorns was founded in 1999 as it was identified that there was a gap in services that provided specialist support to families whose lives had been impacted by domestic abuse.

A model of therapeutic one to one support was developed in response to the views of children young people and their families. Acorns was to become a place where children and their families could take ownership, feel safe, feel important and be part of their own recovery.

Over the years we have learned so much from the children and families we have worked with and we have developed as an organisation in areas such as outreach work with children and young people and advice and support work with parents and carers.

Acorns hopes to continue what it started…offering children, young people and their families a safe space to recover and nurture important relationships.

The Aims of Acorns

To offer a safe, supportive, accepting environment for children, young people and families who have experienced domestic violence and abuse.
To develop therapeutic and support services to meet client need.
To facilitate communication between statutory and voluntary agencies working with children and families who have experienced domestic violence and abuse.
To place the experience of domestic violence and abuse within a societal framework, which acknowledges injustice on the grounds of race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, class and age.

Objectives

To inform children and young people and families about where they can access help and support
To work in partnership with statutory and voluntary agencies towards providing effective services to support children, young people and families who have experienced domestic violence and abuse.

Who is the service for?

Acorns is a free and confidential service for families that have been impacted by domestic abuse. We provide a range of therapeutic and support services to meet the needs of children, young people and their parents and carers. We currently work across North Tyneside and Northumberland.

Acorns is a member of the Mental Health Alliance. You can read more about it here.