Working as an Intervention Partnership Coordinator at London’s largest domestic abuse and sexual violence charity means that no two days are ever quite the same. I work Mondays and Tuesdays, and although they sit right next to each other in the week, they can feel like two completely different working days! 

Monday – Duty Day 

Monday is usually one of my busiest and most focused days of the week. After the weekend, there can be quite a lot waiting for us, and as I’m on duty, my first job of the morning is to go through the referrals that have come in from the police over the weekend. 

I start by reviewing the referrals that have been processed by our on-call staff, including the risk assessments they have completed. From there, I assess what still needs to happen and identify any outstanding actions. 

This can mean contacting service users directly, checking in with them and making sure that any outstanding actions are completed. A big part of my role is also partnership working with the police, so throughout the day I will often be chasing Officers in Charge for further information or updates, such as finding out whether conditional cautions have been issued. 

I will then look at any other referrals that have come through and identify those where a risk assessment still needs to be completed. This means contacting the service user, completing the assessment with them and identifying whether any further support or safeguarding actions are required. 

Alongside duty, I also have my existing service users to support. I will make contact with them, complete any outstanding assessments and chase actions that need progressing. This might include referrals into additional IDVA services, completing MARAC referrals or liaising with other professionals involved in their support. 

Monday is very much a focused day. There is usually a lot to work through following the weekend, and priorities can quickly change depending on the referrals that come in. 

By the end of Monday, there is a real sense of achievement in knowing that referrals have been processed, service users have been contacted and important actions have been put into place. 

Tuesday – Office Day 

Tuesday has a completely different feel because it’s my office day, and I very much look forward to seeing my team! 

My morning usually begins with me rushing to get out of the door, but most importantly making sure I have a very much-needed coffee for the drive to work. 

When I arrive, I greet the team and we have a catch-up about how our week has been. This normally consists of lots of giggles and nattering before we eventually remind ourselves that we are actually there to work! 

By this point, I’m usually gasping for a cup of tea, so I make myself one, open my laptop and prepare for the day ahead. 

Tuesday is particularly valuable because it gives me the opportunity to catch up properly with my colleague who works in the same role as me. There are only two members in our very small team, so communication between us is incredibly important. 

We discuss any problems within the service that need addressing, outstanding actions, service announcements and any pending cases where contact still needs to be made. We can problem-solve together and then share the outstanding work between us. 

From there, I may be chasing police officers for updates or communicating with the CARA project to establish which individuals have completed the programme and whether there are any updates that we need to be aware of. 

I will also usually have actions carrying over from Monday. This could mean attending a MARAC meeting for one of my service users, progressing referrals or making sure that service users who have come through our service are provided with appropriate follow-up support once their time with us comes to an end. 

By this point in the day, I am very much in need of another coffee! I take a short walk to the local coffee shop, and for a little while I get to enjoy the peace while sipping on my iced latte before heading back to the office. 

One of my favourite parts of being based in the office is that I also get to catch up with the refuge staff. Long before moving into my current role, I worked as a refuge caseworker within the same refuge, so it is always lovely to see familiar faces. 

There is something quite special about being able to visit your old workplace every week and see many of the same people continuing to support survivors who have fled abuse. There is something very special about working within a refuge setting, too. You have the privilege of seeing service users begin to flourish and prepare for a new chapter of their lives, free from abuse. Having previously worked directly within that environment, it is lovely to still feel connected to it through my current role. 

After catching up with the refuge team, I head back into the office and continue working through my cases. This is often when I can dedicate some time to cases that are a little more complex and require further thought, liaison or intervention. 

Due to the nature of our service, we see an incredibly varied caseload. It does not always involve ongoing domestic abuse. Sometimes we may be supporting situations involving mental health crises, family disputes or one-off incidents. 

At the other end of the spectrum, we also work with high-risk cases where there are significant concerns and a number of different interventions and agencies may need to be involved. 

That variety means you never quite know what the working day is going to bring. It requires us to look at every service user individually, understand their circumstances and consider what support or intervention is most appropriate for them. 

As Tuesday draws to a close, I start thinking about what needs to be in place before I return the following Monday. I make sure that important actions have been progressed, information has been shared where necessary and anything that needs following up is clearly identified. 

By the time I leave the office, I feel reassured that the important pieces are in place for the week ahead. 

Working as an Intervention Partnership Coordinator can be busy, unpredictable and challenging, but it is also incredibly rewarding. Some days involve risk assessments, police liaison and MARAC meetings; others involve problem-solving with my colleague, checking in with service users or making sure somebody has the right support in place when they leave our service.