The Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA) is a membership organisation that helps employers support their employees impacted by domestic abuse.

EIDA is delighted to welcome a new Strategic Partner: Nationwide, the world’s largest building society, that provides over 400 safe spaces in their high street branches across the UK. Nationwide joins the EIDA Strategic Partner Programme as its fifth member at a time when the financial sector is making strides to address domestic abuse. EIDA welcomes Nationwide taking a leading role to promote awareness of domestic abuse and protecting their employees and customers through their workplace response. Strategic Partnership gives Nationwide the ability to share and receive leading insights on domestic abuse issues.

“We are delighted to welcome Nationwide to EIDA’s Strategic Partner programme. We look forward to working together closely to support and protect the lives of their employees impacted by domestic abuse. Through the support of Nationwide and our other Beacons and Strategic Partners, we can keep our resources and events free for smaller organisations. Our vision is for every employer across the UK to take effective action on domestic abuse.” – Susan Bright, CEO of EIDA

“We are proud to take a stand against domestic abuse to protect and support our customers, our colleagues, and our communities. Our strategic partnership with EIDA will help support our colleagues experiencing abuse, and we hope more employers will take a similarly proactive stance.

Of course, our social responsibility to help tackle abuse isn’t limited to Nationwide customers or colleagues – we have recently introduced safe spaces in more than 400 branches to support anyone who needs help. We’ve already seen the value this can bring to people who need help, so we encourage anyone who needs a safe environment to reach out. We also hope that other firms with a strong high street presence follow our example and introduce a similar scheme.” - Amanda Beech, Director of Retail Services at Nationwide.

The EIDA Strategic Partner programme gives employers the opportunity to show their commitment to EIDA’s work by providing financial support towards our core costs and helping us to extend our reach to smaller employers across the UK. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for around three-fifths of employment in the UK private sector, but we hear regularly of the challenges posed by a lack of resources and funding, preventing many SMEs from taking steps to support employees impacted by domestic abuse.

To learn more about the Strategic Partner Programme and how your organisation can join, read here.

All organisations can join EIDA here for free access to our resources and events.

Learn more about Nationwide’s safe spaces scheme at this link: Domestic, financial and economic abuse | Nationwide

Nationwide