Victims of domestic abuse have taken part in a course to rebuild relationships with their children.

The NSPCC regional offices in West Street, Gillingham run a 10 week course for mothers and one child called The Domestic Abuse Recovering Together (DART).

Most of the women on the scheme are from Medway, many experience physical violence, no financial independence and verbal abuse.

The NSPCC helped Tilly -whose name has been changed- from Kent, who denied she was a victim of abuse until joining the scheme.

She said: "I didn't realise at first but my husband drank six cans of lager every day, took cocaine.

"He pushed me and said things like, ‘Why would I want to go to bed with you? Look at the state of you!’

"It was affecting the children so I told him to go back to his parents.

"When I found out he was having an affair he threw me through a glass door and cut open my wrists.

"He also head butted my nose and broke it.

"He was arrested and charged, but he kept coming to the house, demanded money and bombarded me with five to six text messages every hour.

Some of the messages said he was going to kill me.

The DART scheme allows a mum and one child to take part in various workshops to rebuild their self esteem

Scheme practitioner Cathy Eyers said: "The idea is that women have gone through domestic abuse, the partner has gone and now they're left with the aftermath.

" Many women don't realise they are victim's of abuse until they are hit, their sense of self worth is next to nothing.

"We have to make sure no one knows each-other before we start, a lot of trust building people are very shy to start off with but by the end the mums form a support network."

"Although we can only take one child per mother they are able to replicate what they learn at home with the rest of their children.
"We take on children aged 8-14 years old and they do visual arts and crafts to help them let go of painful memories."

Since 2014 the scheme has helped 126 sets of mother and child.