THE pioneering work of the West Devon Community Safety Partnership was honoured when its chairman Gretta Madigan was invited to a reception with Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street.
Gretta, who has led the partnership for two years, was invited to walk through the corridors of power earlier this month in recognition of the high profile role that the group has in the West Country.
Cllr Madigan joined about 100 other guests to hear a lecture on domestic violence by Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss DBE.
Cllr Madigan said: 'We are very lucky in West Devon that crime is very low. However there is no evidence to show that domestic violence is any lower than anywhere else in the country. That means it is probably the highest crime in West Devon.'
She added that a key target of the Community Safety Partnership is to encourage more people to report domestic violence.
Three years ago West Devon Community Safety Partnership secured funding for the borough's own Women's Aid Outreach Project where victims of domestic violence can seek help.
But the funding runs out in March 2004 and the partnership is actively seeking financial support for the project.
After the Downing Street lecture, Cllr Madigan had the opportunity to talk to Cherie Blair and Solicitor General Harriet Harman who are both driving forward initiatives to raise the profile of issues surrounding domestic violence.
'It was a very interesting day,' she said.
'Actually Number 10 was less grand than I thought it would be. It was very functional and efficient — a unique experience.
'It proved to me that ordinary people like myself were treated in exactly the same way as heads of state from all over the world, which is just as it should be.'