Sometimes, a business or organisation begins with a carefully written plan, a detailed strategy and a clear vision of where it will eventually go.
Sometimes, it begins with a phone call.
For Caroline Deeprose, founder and CEO of the Angels Foundation UK, it began with a woman, two children and two IKEA bags.
At the time, Caroline was working as an estate agent. Having previously raised money for a women’s refuge, she was contacted by the refuge and asked whether she might be able to help provide furniture for a woman who was leaving with her two children.
Caroline agreed to meet her at her new property.
When they opened the door, the woman burst into tears.
Caroline initially assumed that she was simply overwhelmed by the situation and reassured her that her belongings would arrive soon.
The woman replied: “What things? This is my life.”
Inside the property were bare floors, no beds, no sofa, no cooker, no light bulbs and no curtain poles. There was nothing.
The woman and her children were starting again with almost nothing.
That moment changed Caroline’s life.
The gap after leaving domestic abuse
Caroline describes the crisis support available to people escaping domestic abuse as vital and often excellent. However, she quickly discovered that there was a huge gap after someone had left.
A person might have escaped an abusive situation, found refuge or temporary accommodation and been given a roof over their head – but what happened next?
How do you cook a meal without a cooker?
How do you put your children to bed without beds?
How do you begin rebuilding your life when your new home is completely empty?
Caroline returned to her estate agency office and asked what they could do. The team put a call out to the local community in St Neots, asking whether anyone could donate furniture.
The response was incredible.
A cooker, sofa, chest of drawers, table, chairs and even carpet were donated. Together, the community transformed an empty property into a home.
Caroline thought she had done one good deed.
Then the phone started ringing.
One person had heard about the help she had provided and asked whether she could help someone else. Then another call came. And another.
Before long, Caroline had reduced her estate agency work to just one or two days a week to meet the growing demand for what began as a simple furniture provision service.
From furniture to holistic support
It quickly became clear that the need went beyond furniture.
Caroline began working with domestic abuse professionals and learned more about the long-term impact of trauma.
Leaving an abusive relationship is not the end of the journey. For many people, it is only the beginning.
The Angels Foundation UK was created to provide practical, emotional and therapeutic support for people and families after domestic abuse.
That includes furniture and household essentials, but also counselling and therapy designed to help people process trauma, rebuild their self-worth and move forward.
As Caroline explains, trauma can remain with someone for years – sometimes decades – unless they have the opportunity to address it.
Many people live in a constant state of fight or flight. The effects of domestic abuse can affect relationships, confidence, mental health, finances and a person’s ability to navigate everyday life.
The Angels Foundation exists to help people not simply survive, but thrive.
The importance of a home
One of the most powerful themes running through the conversation is the importance of a home.
A house provides shelter. But a home provides much more.
It provides somewhere to sleep, somewhere to cook, somewhere to feel safe and somewhere to begin rebuilding a life.
For somebody who has just escaped domestic abuse, being given accommodation may be essential – but an empty property can still feel overwhelming and frightening.
The Angels Foundation helps to fill that gap.
The furniture they provide is practical, but it also represents something bigger: a second chance.
Caroline talks about the fact that donated furniture might otherwise have ended up in landfill. Instead, it can be given a new life in a new home.
In that sense, the Angels Foundation is giving second chances to both people and possessions.
The role of therapy in recovery
The work of the Angels Foundation has developed considerably since those early days of collecting furniture from the public.
Today, the organisation also provides longer-term counselling and therapeutic support.
Caroline believes that the trauma experienced by many survivors is too complex to be addressed in just a handful of sessions.
Domestic abuse can involve years of coercive control, isolation, financial abuse, emotional abuse and physical violence. It can also be connected to childhood experiences and previous relationships.
There can be a lot to unpick.
The organisation works with trained professionals to provide the time and space needed to work through those experiences.
The aim is to help people understand what has happened to them, recognise patterns of behaviour, rebuild their self-worth and develop healthier boundaries and relationships.
One of the most important messages from Caroline is that therapy should not simply be something we turn to when everything has already gone wrong.
She describes it as something that could help people understand themselves, their experiences and their relationships before a crisis happens.
From a desk at home to a team of 37
For five years, Caroline ran the Angels Foundation from home.
Her garage was filled with donated furniture and her work was carried out alongside a part-time job.
The organisation’s growth was transformed by long-term funding from the Cambridge Building Society.
The Angels Foundation now has its own premises, a wellbeing centre, therapy rooms and a warehouse.
The organisation has grown from Caroline and a small group of around six or seven people to a team of 37.
For Caroline, the funding was about more than simply receiving money.
It was somebody saying: “I believe in you.”
That belief gave the organisation the springboard it needed to grow and deliver more support to more families.
The power of networking and community
Caroline is also a passionate advocate for the power of relationships and networking.
She openly acknowledges that she cannot know everything and that she needs people around her with different skills, knowledge and experience.
Through networks, events, volunteers and connections, the Angels Foundation has been able to develop relationships that have helped the organisation grow.
Sometimes, support comes through funding.
Sometimes, it comes through volunteering.
Sometimes, it comes through professional expertise.
And sometimes, it is simply somebody saying: “I know someone who can help you.”
For Caroline, that kind of connection can be invaluable.
It is also a powerful reminder that supporting a charity does not always have to mean writing a cheque.
Businesses can contribute through their skills, services, networks, connections and expertise.
Challenging the idea that people should “just leave”
One of the most important parts of the conversation focused on the attitudes and misconceptions surrounding domestic abuse.
Caroline is particularly frustrated by the question: “Why didn’t they just leave?”
The reality is that leaving an abusive relationship can be incredibly difficult and dangerous.
People may be financially controlled, isolated from friends and family, emotionally manipulated or made to believe that they are incapable of surviving alone.
Domestic abuse is not always visible.
It is not always physical.
It can involve coercive control, financial abuse, emotional abuse and the gradual erosion of somebody’s confidence and sense of self.
Caroline’s advice is simple:
If somebody tells you they are being abused, believe them.
Listen.
Do not judge.
Do not tell them what they should do.
They may not be ready to leave. They may not even be ready to fully acknowledge what is happening.
But by listening and remaining present, you may be giving them the first safe space they have had to talk about their experiences.
The future of the Angels Foundation UK
The Angels Foundation has ambitious plans for the future.
The organisation is looking to open a second-hand furniture shop, which will provide another opportunity to support people, create volunteering opportunities and give furniture a second life.
There are also plans to expand work with the armed forces, provide children’s therapy where it is safe to do so, and work with women leaving prison through upcycling workshops and work coaching.
The organisation’s long-term vision is to develop its model beyond Cambridgeshire, with plans to explore Angels Foundation services in areas including Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Leicestershire.
The aim is for Cambridgeshire to become a working model for post-domestic abuse support.
How can people help?
The most obvious answer is funding.
The Angels Foundation provides professional services, and those services require funding to continue.
However, there are many other ways people and businesses can help.
You could:
- Fundraise for the Angels Foundation
- Become a corporate partner
- Support the charity as a Charity of the Year
- Donate professional services or expertise
- Offer your business network and connections
- Volunteer your time
- Help raise awareness of the organisation
- Speak about the charity when you are in rooms where Caroline and the team are not
As Caroline puts it, even a relatively small amount of regular business support can make a huge difference.
But perhaps the most important thing people can do is start a conversation.
As Caroline says:
“You’re only ever one conversation away from a solution.”
A conversation worth having
Caroline’s story is a powerful example of what can happen when somebody sees a problem and decides they cannot simply walk away from it.
She did not begin with a five-year plan.
She did not have experience running a charity.
She did not know exactly where the organisation would eventually go.
She simply saw a woman standing in an empty home with two children and realised that something needed to change.
Five years later, the Angels Foundation UK has grown into a team of 37, providing practical and therapeutic support to families and individuals across Cambridgeshire.
And the work continues.
Because leaving domestic abuse is not the end of the journey.
For many people, it is the moment when the real work of rebuilding begins.
Listen to the full episode
Want to listen to the full episode? Caroline’s story is a powerful reminder that sometimes, one conversation, one connection or one act of support can make an enormous difference.
Listen to the full episode of Made In Ely, recorded at Ely Work Collective.
No responses yet