The whole team (almost!) ready to celebrate! Eight women, one brilliant podcast, a night in London and a whole lot of unexpected wins. We were absolutely delighted to be finalists in the Limited Series category at the Independent Podcast Awards, celebrating the very best of independent podcasts in 2025/26. The awards took place at Kings Place in London, and what a lovely opportunity it was to celebrate independent podcasting, spend time together and recognise the power of sto

Our CEO, Natalie Collins, was invited to speak at the British Transport Police’s (BTP) annual conference for Sexual Offences Liaison Officers (SOLOs).

Our Meet Up: Katie, Sadia, Danielle, Karen, Natalie, Jacky There is something truly special about bringing Own My Life facilitators together. A chance to share stories, celebrate the difference we are making, learn from one another and, of course, enjoy a few coffees and cakes! We recently had the joy of gathering with some brilliant Own My Life facilitators in Birmingham. It was a time full of warmth, generosity, inspiration and, as always, a shared determination to make sur

Lover Liar Predator The powerful and awards nominated documentary Lover Liar Predator, which explores men's grooming, sexual abuse and coercive control is coming to Stirling this December, with Own My Life CEO Natalie Collins joining the event as a guest speaker. We’re delighted to share news of an important upcoming event in Stirling, where our CEO, Natalie Collins, will be speaking as part of a special free screening of Lover, Liar, Predator. Taking place on Saturday 5 Dece

Our CEO Natalie with the printed report. We’re delighted to share our brand new Annual Report for April 2025 to March 2026, approved at our Annual General Meeting on 17 October 2026. Our Annual Report gives us an opportunity to reflect on the year, celebrate all that we’ve achieved together, and thank the brilliant people who make our work possible. Alongside our financial review and governance responsibilities, it tells the story of the growing reach and transformational imp

Back (L-R): Lyndsey (Expectations), Sarah (Chairwoman), Teresa (PR), Ebun (Treasurer), Abi (Podcast), Louise (Zoom Coach & Co-Trainer), Kirsty (Co-Trainer), Karen (Facilitator). Front (L-R): Rachel (Board Secretary), Natalie (CEO), Victoria (Partnership Development). A special weekend of connection, learning and big ambitions brings the Own My Life community together as the charity looks ahead to an exciting new chapter. There was plenty to celebrate as Own My Life brought o

One year into the Government’s 10-year strategy to halve men’s violence against women and girls, Own My Life is bringing together leading voices from the women’s sector, creative practitioners and campaigners to reflect on progress, challenge existing approaches and imagine what meaningful change could look like. What does it really take to respond to men’s violence against women and girls? And one year into the Government’s 10-year strategy to halve it, are we asking the rig

Last month, I had the privilege of spending time with the Home Office, contributing to important work exploring fraud through abuse of position and bringing my own experience of coercive control and economic abuse into the conversation.

Sunderland's lovely seafront! Although our charity's reach is across the UK and Ireland (and sometimes further afield, like Australia!), we do all of our work from our based in Sunderland, in north east England. We are proud that our work is delivered from such a beautiful city by the sea! And this week, we’re delighted to share that Own My Life’s awards season has been featured in our local newspaper, the Sunderland Echo! We are celebrating after Lover Liar Predator, a BBC d

Our Brilliant Training Week! What a week! It was our October Own My Life facilitator training this week and it was beautiful! One of my favourite comments was from a participant who said she was so annoyed with her manager for being made to come on the training because she hates training, but she has absolutely loved it! This is what participants said: Bloody brilliant course.🤩 The best most inspiring training I have ever done.🏆 Own My Life is not just training, it is an ex

We are thrilled to celebrate the news that Lover Liar Predator, the powerful film featuring the work of Own My Life, has been nominated for a Scottish BAFTA. The nomination is a huge moment for the filml and for the four women whose stories sit at its heart: our founder, Natalie Collins, Robyn, who attended an Own My Life course, and Shannon* and Jenni. All four women were abused by the same man. Lover Liar Predator tells the complicated and courageous story of how his abuse

Contributors to Stronger Than You Think (L-R: Tim, Natalie, Sai Sai, Tracie, and Sherry. This week Own My Life had a joyous event to celebrate the release of Professor Sherry Hamby's new book Stronger Than You Think; Four Pillars for a Stronger and More Resilient You. The book enables readers to understand how we can all build the pieces of a good life, and this event sought to share some of that knowledge, not only with the live online audience, but also with you who can now

We’re utterly delighted to share that the Own My Life podcast has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Independent Podcast Awards in the Best Limited Series category! This is a huge honour - and one we want to celebrate with all the women whose voices, stories, courage and creativity are at the heart of the series. What are the Independent Podcast Awards? The Independent Podcast Awards celebrate podcasts made independently of the large commercial podcast networks and product

We are absolutely thrilled to celebrate the news that Lover, Liar, Predator, the powerful documentary featuring Own My Life, has been shortlisted for a Grierson Award in the Best Crime and Justice Documentary category (information HERE). The Grierson Awards, also known as the British Documentary Awards, are one of the most significant celebrations of documentary filmmaking in the UK. Established in 1972, they recognise documentaries from Britain and around the world that demo

What a wonderful week of training with marvellous practitioners who gave great feedback! "The training has been exceptional."🤩 "Intense, powerful and straightforward."🫵🏼 "It's life changing. All girls & women should receive it!"🚺 "Love the content and the way it’s been put together."💖 "Useful not just for delivering training but also in our day to day life."💥 "The course has been such an inspiring and invaluable experience."💫 "Own My Life will change the lives of women

Administrator Meet Andrew "Baggy" Collins — Administrator, and the person who keeps the orders, finances and training event bookings running smoothly behind the scenes - thanks for keeping us ship-shape Andrew. What song will always get you on the dancefloor? YMCA by Village People If you had a superpower for the day, what would it be? It's got to be flying (no points for originality!) If you could instantly master a new skill what would it be? Playing the violin Which biscui

Female officer: back to camera Domestic abusers are everywhere and those they harm work in all arenas of life; including the people whose professional lives are dedicated to responding to the harm these abusers cause. That is the message behind Empower, a new support project for police officers and staff subjected to domestic abuse within Thames Valley Police. The initiative offers peer support, practical advice, wellbeing support and access to specialist services, working

Volunteer Engagement and Inspired Pilot Lead Meet Hannah Shead — Freelancer, Volunteer Engagement lead and part of the team behind our Inspired pilot. Hannah is also Project Lead for Women First, Treasurer for UK Feminista, and a Director of the Choices Rehab Group. Basically, if there's feminist work to be done, Hannah has a hand in it. What song will always get you on the dancefloor? I will dance to pretty much anything, but my go has got to be MC Hammer, U Can't Touch this

Join Own My Life online on Friday 18 September for an afternoon exploring how we can all build the pieces of a good life! What does it take to build a good life after experiencing adversity? And how can we identify the resources that genuinely help people to thrive? On Friday 18 September, from 2–4pm, Own My Life will host Stronger Than You Think: Four Pillars for a Stronger, More Resilient You, a free interactive event on Zoom. The event will explore the ideas in Professor S

Police Facilitator and Trustee Viran is one of our trustees, delivers Own My Life to women in the Police and has controversial opinions on pineapple as a pizza topping. What other projects are you working on outside Own My Life? Helping Employees - specifically police employees who are victim/survivors of abuse. If you had a superpower for the day, what would it be? Pausing time so I could get things done and then unpause. If you could instantly master a new skill, what would