DOMESTIC violence survivor Jan Kelly first began writing poems as a way of expressing herself when she was a frightened youngster in a York children's home.

Putting her thoughts down on paper as poems also helped to give her some much-needed comfort during the ten years she spent suffering in silence at the hands of her abusive husband.

Now she wants her poignant poems to be used as a source of support for others affected by domestic violence.

But to do that she first needs to find a firm or a sponsor that would be willing to meet the cost of turning the 40 or so moving verses she has penned into a book. The book could then be distributed free through women's help organisations.

Jan, 50, who lives in South Bank, said: "When I was younger, writing poems was a way of expressing myself, and during the domestic violence it was a way of saying out loud how I felt, when there was nobody else to listen. It just seemed to help a bit.

"What I would like now is to get my poems together into some sort of booklet for other people, who are in the same situation, to read. Some of the poems are pretty raw, but, hopefully they will help others to realise they are not alone. When it was happening to me, I thought I was the only person in the world going through it."

Jan's case was highlighted in the Evening Press last year as a success story of the new domestic violence policy, which was introduced in the York and Selby area in April 2001.

It sees a number of agencies, as well as the police, coming together to take such incidents more seriously than ever before and help women free themselves from violent home lives.

Her husband, whom she has since divorced, was jailed for 18 months in May last year for two attacks on her, but is now out of prison.

Any firm or sponsor who could help Jan turn her poems into a book for others affected by domestic violence should contact Tony Tierney at the Evening Press on 01904 653051 or email tony.tierney@ycp.co.uk

Updated: 10:51 Monday, March 10, 2003