Huge thanks to supporters from Black Country domestic abuse charity at special event

It was a day for a city charity which helps women and children who have been subjected to domestic abuse to offer thanks to the organisations and people who have supported it.

Haven Heroes was a chance for The Haven Wolverhampton to welcome a range of groups and organisations from across the city to a special event at Bantock House.

The event on Tuesday saw members of The Haven, including chief executive Laura Rogers, welcome guests to a reception with hot drinks and cakes, as well as present each organisation with a certificate of thanks.

This included Grand Station, a venue with a long history of supporting the charity, companies such as Marstons PLC and Cadent, charities such as the Coven Mothers Union and Emma Bussey Trust and, also, the Express & Star.

It was also an opportunity to celebrate the successes of 2025, which included significant funding boosts from the National Lottery Community Fund, an unconditional award from the Women's Aid Federation of England (WAFE) and being able to refer more than 1,800 women and children for support.

Laura Rogers and Lived Experience Lead Pamilerin Beckley gave speeches at the start of the event, with Ms Rogers talking about the successes of 2025, but also the need to keep focusing and planning, while Ms Beckley spoke passionately about the work supporting women and children and the need to do more.

Ms Rogers said it meant a lot for her to be there to thank supporters, saying the charity survived on that sort of support.

She said: “We are contract funded, grant funded and donor funded, so everything that we receive allows us to provide more services, it allows us to sustain services and allows us to be creative, sometimes, with what we do.

“I think the main message is that it tells the service users that people care about them, people who they may never meet or see in person and that are out there rooting for them and their recovery.

“I’ve been in this post for a year and I’m meeting people today that I’ve not had the chance to meet before, and it shows that The Haven is very well supported, 53 years long in the tooth in the city, and the support is unwavering and means everything.

“Our mission, of course, is to sustain it and keep it going and, for me, today is a full circle moment as I’m a survivor of domestic abuse and to be able to stand here and thank people for what they do when I was there 15 years ago with my baby is incredible.”