FORMER Arsenal and England striker turned broadcaster Ian Wright visited a Southampton charity as part of his documentary on domestic abuse.

Hampton Trust appeared in Home Truths, which described the ex footballer's personal experience of growing up in a psychologically abusive and violent home and examined how different people are trying to deal with domestic abuse.

The organisation runs courses for people who are at risk of committing, or have already committed, abuse.

Vicky Gilroy, Senior Domestic Abuse Practitioner at Hampton Trust, who featured in the documentary, told the Daily Echo: “We see a lot of behaviours that individuals don’t recognise as abuse. Our job is to help them in understanding that.”

"It’s a very grave problem. “We know that every six seconds a woman is assaulted in this country – that’s without even taking into account coercive control.

Daily Echo:

“We are working at giving perpetrators skills and strategies that they can put in place within the family environment so that it reduces the exposure of their children to abuse. If we can reduce that exposure, those children are going to have better life chances

In the documentary, Wright also meets Wes, who has a history of domestic violence and referred himself to the Hampton Trust in Southampton when he became a father for the first time. Wes outlines how the techniques he has learnt on the course are helping him to improve his behaviour at home.

Wright is impressed by the work he sees at the Hampton Trust. “We have to give these people the opportunity to change,” he says. “We have to break the cycle.”

Since the pandemic began, Hampton Trust have engaged with 435 perpetrators and 444 victims, as well as safeguarding 797 children.