July 17, 2025
PJ talks to Ciara Mangan of Beyond Surviving about her work together with victim-survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and abuse to end counsellor notes being used against rape survivors in sexual offence trials.
Free, monthly in-person peer support groups with others who understand and ‘get it’.
Small groups of 9 other adult women affected by sexual violence and domestic abuse. Groups are led by two trained peer-facilitators with lived experience. Held in safe, discreet venues in Dublin, Galway and Mayo.
There’s more than one journey beyond surviving, and more than one way to be part of our survivor-led peer community.
You can support other survivors by training as a peer-facilitator and holding our support groups, where survivors find connection and understanding. Help more survivors find us as a BYS Champion, or advocate for change as a BYS Advocate. Learn about volunteering.
Free, varied creative and wellbeing workshops to explore healing in different ways and connect with fellow survivors.
Themes include journaling, creative writing, vision boards, movement and more, each guided by experienced trauma-informed facilitators. Small groups of 9 other adult women affected by sexual violence and domestic abuse. No experience needed.
Free weekly online peer support group to connect with others who understand and ‘get it’.
Our weekly online group is open to survivors from anywhere in Ireland and is a great option to start with. Survivor Tea & Chats are small online groups of 9 other adult women affected by sexual violence and domestic abuse. Groups are led by one trained peer-facilitator with lived experience. Held online, every Wednesday from 7 – 7:30pm.
There’s more than one way to be part of our survivor-led peer community. You can train as a peer-facilitator, help more survivors find us as a BYS Champion, or advocate for change as a BYS Advocate.
Entirely optional, and at your own pace. Find out more about volunteering here.
Philanthropic giving has supported Beyond Surviving in a way that no other kind of funding could. It established our base in Dublin, opened doors we could not have opened alone, and kept our Survivor Support Groups running while we grow.
It is also the only funding flexible enough to sustain the people doing the work, which for an organisation of our size is the difference between continuing and stopping.
If you are in a position to support Beyond Surviving through philanthropy, we would be glad to talk. Email: fundraising@beyondsurviving.ie
As a small charity, pro-bono support matters enormously to us. Some of the most valuable help we have received didn’t come as money. Much of what Beyond Surviving has built in a short space of time exists because people believe in our work and gave their time and skills.
Worth knowing: many employers give their staff a number of volunteering days each year.
If you have skills to offer, we would be glad to hear from you. Email: fundraising@beyondsurviving.ie
Many large employers in Ireland use Benevity to match their employees’ charitable donations and volunteer hours.
If your employer uses Benevity, your €25 donation could become €50 for Beyond Surviving, helping us reach and support more survivors around Ireland.
How to check: log in to your company’s internal giving portal, search for Beyond Surviving (or look for the Irish Online Giving Foundation, Benevity’s local partner), and see if your employer will match your donation.
Our team runs the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon in Dublin each June, and there are plenty of other ways to raise funds in your own community. Runs, swims, coffee mornings, quiz nights. You can set up your fundraising page in a few clicks, we’ll send you what you need including a t-shirt, and then stay out of the way while you get on with it. Fundraising of course raises money, but it also puts our name on a t-shirt in a crowd, which is how some survivors first find out we exist.
Set up your fundraising page here.
Free, varied creative and wellbeing workshops to explore healing in different ways and connect with fellow survivors through creative expression and movement. Register here.
Free, monthly in-person peer support groups to connect with others who understand and ‘get it’. Held in Dublin, Galway and Mayo. Register here.
Our online Survivor Tea & Chats are a great option to start with. Free weekly online peer support group to connect with others who understand and ‘get it’.
Held online, every Wednesday from 7:00 – 7:45pm. Register here.
Beyond Surviving recognises and values diversity in all its forms. We honour the range of identities, backgrounds, cultures, experiences and needs within our community, and are committed to creating inclusive, trauma-informed, and accessible spaces where all survivors feel respected, represented and supported.
We are committed to open communication, shared decision-making and honest conversations. Our decisions are visible to our members, clearly explained and rooted in the community we serve. As a survivor-led charity, we work collaboratively with survivors, volunteers and partners, sharing power and building the future of Beyond Surviving together.
Beyond Surviving believes that empowerment stems from a nurtured sense of agency, self-trust and autonomy. We support survivors to lead their own journeys, honouring choice, pace and personal boundaries, and creating the conditions that allow empowerment to be strengthened from within.
Beyond Surviving believes that healing, thriving and moving beyond surviving happens in community, not isolation. We champion the power of shared experience and resonance, and create spaces where survivors feel validated, connected and not alone. Everyone deserves to feel as though they belong and a place where they feel understood without judgement.
Beyond Surviving is built on trust, integrity and accountability. We trust survivors as the experts of their own lives and experiences, and we take full responsibility for the choices we make and the impact they have. We do as we say we will, and hold ourselves to the same standards of honesty, care and responsibility that we expect from others, owning our actions, informing our decisions, and learning as we go.
We believe that every survivor deserves to feel seen, heard and supported at every stage of their journey. Every experience is unique, and just as every experience of domestic abuse and sexual violence differs, so too does every person’s path forward. We recognise that every voice carries equal weight, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. What works for one person may not work for another.
We are led by survivors, for survivors. Lived experience, in all its forms, sits at the heart of our decision-making, governance, advocacy, and direction, ensuring our work is grounded in real experiences and needs. We work alongside allies, including Board members, staff, volunteers and partners, who act as supporters, contributors, and accountability partners. Every decision we make is guided by the central question: what best serves survivors, and how have they been meaningfully included?