St Barnabas Church, Hattersley recently became a performance space for a powerful showing of Press Red’s ‘Control’. 

‘Control’, written by Mottram resident Matt Britton and performed by Matt Britton and Emily Lawson, is a powerful production highlighting the impact of domestic abuse on the relationship of a church-going couple. It is a topic often hidden, but statistics show that one in four of us will be affected by it at some point in our lives. 

The event was also attended by Tameside’s domestic abuse service Bridges, which was able to signpost people to support services, as well as Lisa Morris, domestic abuse lead for Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council.

Cllr Jacqueline Owen, deputy chair of the Health & Adult Service Scrutiny Panel and member of the working group looking at domestic abuse, contacted Matt Britton about the possibility of bringing the production to Longdendale. The councillor has become a White Ribbon Champion herself, as part of the White Ribbon charity's initiative to spread the message about violence towards women.

‘Wow, just wow," she said. "What a great way to raise these issues. As a woman who’s been on the receiving end of these types of behaviour in the past, I recognise the emotions and understand the difficulty in recognising the signs and taking action, and would encourage everyone to seek support."

If you would like further information, there are some useful links below.

https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/

https://pressred.org/

https://support.jigsawhomes.org.uk/information-article/bridges-domestic-abuse/