Preventing family tragedies

Small Steps 4 Hannah Foundation
Selfless. Inspirational. Survivor

Lloyd Clarke has channelled grief into determination to prevent domestic violence tragedies through his Small Steps 4 Hannah Foundation.

Lloyd lost his daughter Hannah and three grandchildren last year in a fatal domestic violence tragedy.

He wants to save other families from his pain by educating the community about the red flags for coercive control, which his daughter experienced from her partner.

With his wife, Suzanne, he has organised what they hope will be an annual HALT walk to stop domestic violence. HALT is made of the initials of their daughter and grandchildren, Hannah, Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey.

The couple have given talks to girls aged 16-17 and their mothers to help them recognise coercive control red flags. Similar talks will be offered to boys and their fathers later this year.

Lloyd’s greatest hope is that his efforts will make other women more aware of coercive control so they can escape.

Lloyd says he is humbled to be nominated as a Westfield Local Hero. “We didn’t see the signs of coercive control and, more to the point, we didn’t know about it, so we want to educate the community, so this doesn’t happen to anybody else,” he says.

Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with the three top finalists per Westfield centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation. Small Steps 4 Hannah Foundation will use its funds to hire venues and sound equipment for talks and to print hand-out cards detailing coercive control red flags and helpline numbers.

For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here