Hi, I’m Kate. You may know me from the community centre, or perhaps you’ve just seen me in the back room, typing up funding applications and reports. Keeping on top of all the geeky shit.

I am not “just a manager of a charity”, but I am also a survivor of domestic violence, and I have experienced emotional, mental, physical, and psychological abuse. My journey to freedom began 16 years ago when I met my husband, Matthew. At first, as many survivors do, I worried he might be like my previous partner. Thankfully, he proved to be very different. patient, understanding, and supportive, showing me every day that kindness and respect were possible. Over the years, with his encouragement and the community’s support, I rebuilt my confidence, learned to trust again, and found my own voice. Now, I use my experiences to help others at the community centre, letting them know there is hope and a path forward after abuse.

As part of my journey to recovery from abuse, I have worked tirelessly on myself through self-growth, education and different therapies. It is in my learning and developing journey that I started to journal my feelings, talk about what happened to me, and this started to release the trauma and help me gain confidence to begin to live again. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not  magically cured from what happened to me, far from it. Today I still suffer with PTSD, anxiety and chronic pain, to which I am currently taking the journey to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. However, what I have learned on my path of self-discovery is that the more you persevere and keep learning, the more you grow, and the stronger you become.

That strength is then projected out of you into many different ways, usually to help and support those around you who have no voice at all. In 2012, I immersed myself in CBD theory; back then, it was called “Life Coaching”. So, in 2013, I hired my first life coach (an American dude named Jack Canfield). It was in that moment that everything started to change….Suddenly, I wanted to learn more about myself, about other people, and why we do the things we do as human beings. Why do some people abuse others? Why do we allow abuse to make us feel shallow, like we are no longer special or even valid in this world? Why did I feel the need to look at the floor every time I walked past somebody in the street? My mind went into overdrive, with so many questions I wanted answers to.

I heavily invested in myself and took many, many more coaching programs with different coaches, which further opened my mind. I was learning things about myself that I had never known before, and one of those things was that I had a way with written words. Even though, at the time, spell check was my best friend, and I relied on my son to help me with my punctuation (as I am dyslexic and he is a very smart young man), I began my journey as a writer. I started blogging, which improved my writing skills and reduced my anxiety by lifting the lid on the pressure cooker of my feelings of what life had thrown at me. The more I wrote, the freer I became, and the more people I connected with in many different areas of the world. I connected with one lady in France who had the idea to put together an anthology book, and somehow? I don’t know how? All I can say is God works in mysterious ways. Any-hoo, this lady invited me to write in my first ever published book. It was only one chapter, but to me this was HUGE!

This really pushed me out of my comfort zone; the book became a success in the American charts and became an international bestseller on Amazon overnight. From there, my life took a drastic turn. To avoid taking up too much of your time, I will condense the next 10 years into bullet points, so you won’t be here reading this blog post, and I can get to the lesson on why I wrote in the first place. So, it was from life-coaching (therapy) and becoming a published author that led to:

Publishing my own book series called The Missing Piece.

Training to be a life coach myself and a CBD therapist

Helping support many victims of abuse to go on and do amazing things

Speaking/Hosting my own podcast show

Speaking on countless radio shows/media interviews

Building my own publishing company, then coaching others to do the same

Working with award-winning film directors and gaining a wonderful friend who is a Hollywood actress, who has appeared in a long line of well-known TV programmes.  

Travelled to America to host my own women’s retreat in Sandi-Digo and then another in Canada (Yes! I travelled by myself, to the other side of the world, I crapped myself, but I did it)

I took the leap to further my education in human behaviour and spent 6 years at university. In 2023, I graduated with a BA Hons degree in Psychology & Criminology.

I set up a childcare business from home called Bridlington Childcare Service, which was one of the very first in East Yorkshire to adopt The Curiosity Approach. The business became so successful that I employed my daughter and my grandson’s mum, and with my little team, I expanded. From there, I received a phone call from East Yorkshire Council asking if I would be interested in expanding much further…. To the point of a Pre-School?

There was a commercial building nearby coming up for grabs. I said OKAY! WHY NOT!

When I walked into the Pre-School building, I thought I was just taking on a childcare business at a higher level, but no, shock and bewilderment, it was a charity too! A whole community centre, which had taken a back seat with the Pre-School running full-time. Oh heck! I was surprised, shocked, scared, and absolutely had no clue how to make it all happen???!!…. Like the saying I had learned in coaching, “Feel the fear and do it anyway!” So, I did. I swallowed the lump in my throat and signed the lease.

Abi gave birth to Toby, my grandson, and he was only 5 weeks old when Abi came to fetch Toby to see me and look around the new building I had taken on. Abi sat on a chair to feed Toby, and we started chatting. She asked me what my vision was for the place, and I told her that in fantasy land, I would love to bring the community centre back to life, touch many people’s lives, and help it thrive again. I asked Abi how her beauty business was going, and she was honest: it was not what she wanted to do anymore. Life had changed, and since having another baby, it was just not what she wanted to do with her life. Abi offered to help me wherever she could, to which I asked: “So, what are you doing with the next 30 years of your life?”

And as they say, “The rest is history”, and 4 years later we grew to what we are today, with Abi leading the front of house and me keeping on top of all the geeky shit, that I love doing.

However, none of this would have ever been possible if I had not first learned about domestic abuse, the different types of abuse and how CBD therapy would give me what I needed to move forward to a happier life. The message here really is: never stop learning about yourself and others. Knowledge is power, and it can give you insight into things you didn’t know before. I never knew all these different types of abuse even existed, or that I had experienced many of them myself! No wonder I had many self-confidence and low self-esteem issues stopping me from living my life.

Recently, we met up with Together Women, which is a charity that supports victims of domestic abuse, providing free courses on learning about domestic abuse and providing a recovery toolkit to help survivors move forward and take the first steps to freedom and happiness. All I have to do is drum up enough people to fill the community centre hall, chuck in a tea trolley and some chocolate biscuits, and then Together Women will come and host the course.

If you feel this is something you would like to learn about, do me a favour and let me know if it is of any interest to you, and from there, I will take down names and keep you in the loop. Hopefully, we can make it happen. If you reach out to me on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/newpasturelane or drop us an email at nplcommunitycentre@gmail.com

Hopefully, together, we can help many others move toward a better future.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post, and hope to hear from you soon!

I leave my love with you today,

Your friend for the journey,

Kate x

Mrs Katy Batten BA (Hons) ( Pronouns: She/Her), International Best Selling Author and Admin Management of New Pasture Lane Community Centre, Registered Charity No 700422.

DISCLAIMER: These blog posts are in no way, shape, or form to provide any professional advice and are for entertainment purposes only. The author/s take no personal responsibility or liability for any person/s who chooses to use the methods in their own lives.