'I'm very proud': Founder of Shrewsbury child to parent abuse support company reflects on 'incredible' five years

Now supporting more than 8,500 parents and caregivers across the country, Michelle told the Shropshire Star that it’s been “incredible” to see how much the company has achieved in the last five years. 

Michelle said: “Today, we are still the only UK organisation who provides support just for parental figures.

“We have managed to get child to parent abuse recognised within the Domestic Abuse Act (2021) and we've become trusted partners of NHS England. 

“We created an employer covenant free for any employer to sign up to to get access to training and support, backed by the Department for Work and Pensions. 

“We've created risk awareness models and tools and we've developed training.

“We're a very small team but we’re incredible and I'm very proud.”

Michelle continued: “It also comes with a lot of sadness.

“There's still so many people out there that have not recognised that this is something that's occurring to them.

“I'm proud of the parents that we support but they're the ones we know about. There are people that we don't know about and desperately need help.”

Michelle founded PEGS after her own experience with child to parent abuse. Growing tired of hearing about parents unable to access help, Michelle said she decided she would take matters into her own hands. 

“I've got lived experience of child to parent abuse.

“I took my pain to power, to empower others. And PEGS was born with a Google document and an idea.

“I didn't know what it was going to be. I just knew that that change had to happen.

“I started the organisation with no funding, no backing, no nothing - and then we went national within six months.”

Michelle added: “PEGS is a lot bigger than my experience, a lot bigger than me.

“It's always about those that we support so I say that we run PEGS, but it actually belongs to a community of incredible people.

“I just never would have thought that five years on, this is what we will be doing.

“It can be really tough sometimes, because of the way that the system is at the moment - it doesn't recognise this form of abuse.

“It can be incredibly frustrating, because even we [as an organisation] are facing those barriers that families are finding.”

PEGS is hosting a small celebration for its fifth birthday next Friday (March 21) at its base in Shrewsbury from 10am to noon. 

Michelle said it is a “chance to connect with the community and celebrate what the team has done in five years”.

It is also an opportunity for the community to refamiliarise themselves with the work of PEGS.

Michelle said: “We are an online-based service, which we do appreciate comes with its barriers.

“People can access our support by making a referral through the website or getting in touch with the team directly through an email. 

“We have seven virtual practitioner-led sessions a week, including evening sessions.

“We've got workshops around empowerment and a closed peer support group, too.

“We also run outreach in Shropshire where parents can come and meet us and have a brew, have a chat, receive emotional and practical support if it's right for them.

“It might be that somebody's reading this and it's not affecting them, but it's somebody they know.

“These families are amongst us,  they are our loved ones, they're our neighbors, they're our work colleagues, they're in our community.

“We need to get comfortable asking uncomfortable questions. We need to get more curious.

“We also need to listen to what's actually being said.”

Find out more about PEGS, its services and how to support the organisation via the official website and social media channels.