Cycle ride will stop in Shrewsbury to highlight male victims of domestic abuse

Paul Lavelle from the Wirral was murdered by his girlfriend, Sarah Lewis, who was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment in January 2018.

The Paul Lavelle Foundation, set up by a group of friends and family says Paul had suffered in silence from domestic abuse for far too long and that there is a lack of awareness and support for males suffering in the same situation.

Almost 30 members of the foundation set out on a Lands’ End to John O`Groats cycle ride todayand hope to complete the 906 marathon in nine days .

The ride is due to stop in Shrewsbury's Square on August 4 at about 5pm.

Cyclists will meet up with Lisa Evans a representative from Shropshire Domestic Abuse Service to present the service a plaque of remembrance and friendship and that it for the work it does to raise awareness of the problem.

Sharne Williams from the charity said: "We will never stop speaking about Paul, we want people to know what a great man Paul was and what great memories he left us all. Domestic abuse is never acceptable.

"It is a taboo subject and one that is never spoken out about due to males feeling weak or ashamed to do so. The friends of Paul Lavelle recoginsed that this needs to radically change."

More details are available fromfacebook.com/paullavellefoundation.

Lisa Evans said that the Shropshire Domestic Abuse Service was a specialist domestic abuse service funded and commissioned in various ways to help support, educate and empower all affected by domestic and sexual abuse that currently live or need to flee to the Shropshire.

"We support all victims of domestic abuse irrespective of age, gender, sexuality, religion or ethnicity. We have a large women’s refuge, and smaller dispersed properties enabling us to accommodate male victims as well as larger families."