Grace Millane shoes among those at Basildon awareness event

The Mother and Child Fountain in Basildon Town Centre was the location of an art installation representing all the lives lost due to domestic violence in East Anglia over the past few years.

The thought-provoking display of red shoes included a pair donated in memory of Grace Millane, from Wickford, who was murdered while travelling in Auckland, New Zealand in December 2018.

The event was organised by the domestic abuse support service Changing Pathways and was supported by Basildon Council.

Shoe display: display of red shoes (Image: Marie Ealding)

Tania Woodgate, chief executive officer at Changing Pathways and organiser of the event, said: “Changing Pathways, decided to do our own red shoe art installation to raise the awareness of violence against women and girls where each pair of shoes represents the number of women from East Anglia, whose lives were lost due to domestic violence over the past few years.

“We particularly wanted to shine the spotlight on a pair of shoes donated in memory of Grace Millane from Wickford, who lost her life whilst travelling overseas.

“We believe that raising awareness through visual aids does have a bigger impact and we will continue to place our art installations in the areas Changing Pathways’ service covers across Essex, such as Thurrock and Harlow.

Raising awareness: the event aims to raise awareness for domestic abuse (Image: Marie Ealding)

“The installation was silent in that it draw people in to ask questions. Changing Pathways had two staff members on hand to offer advice and support when needed.

“The loss of lives to domestic violence is the stark reality for those who work in the sector deal with we are and we hope that the work we do will continue to reduce the amount of shoes we display in the future, until there are none.”

Marie Ealding, who assisted in promoting the event, said: “I am a survivor and to see these shoes it makes me feel sad.

“I don’t want people to understand it, I want people to know that they’re not alone.

“We want people to be aware of services and others around them so they can reach out for help before they sadly may become a pair of shoes.

“Domestic abuse is not okay and it's okay to not be okay about it.

“Raising awareness and signposting and uniting together is the key.”