About Paladin#
Paladin, in full the Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service, was set up in July 2013 by people who had led the campaign in Parliament for stalking to become a named crime, which it did in England and Wales in November 2012. Its accredited Independent Stalking Advocacy Caseworkers support people judged to be at high risk and push for a joined-up local response from the police and other agencies, with the aim of keeping victims and their children safe. It also runs an accredited course for caseworkers and stalking awareness training. It reports taking more than 5,000 calls a year and receiving 1,004 high-risk referrals in 2024.
Getting a referral#
You can refer yourself through the online form on the Get support page. Professionals can refer people in the areas where Paladin is commissioned: Northumbria, Lancashire, Dyfed-Powys and British Transport Police. In an emergency, call the police. The site has a Hide button that leaves the page at once.
For 16 to 24 year olds, a young people's team offers listening, safety planning, a look at online safety, help reaching other services, and support with talking to a college or workplace. It covers stalking by anyone: an ex, a neighbour, a friend, a relative, a colleague or a stranger.
What Paladin's advice says about changing things#
Paladin publishes nothing on names. What it does publish bears on any change you are thinking about. Its six golden rules are to report early and tell others, get good practical advice, collect evidence, keep a diary, complete the stalking risk screening questions, and trust your instinct. Its pages for young people go further: they advise against changing your phone number or blocking the person on social media, because that may increase the risk to you and make evidence harder to gather.
A change of name is a bigger step than a new number, and the same caution applies. A caseworker can help you judge whether a new name would make you safer, and when to make it, for example before or after a court date. If you do go ahead, keep a note of which name is on each crime reference, statement and order, so the papers can be matched to you later.
Orders, evidence and the name on them#
Only the police can apply for a stalking protection order, and Paladin says a breach without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence. That is why it tells victims to keep every record: a diary of each incident and call, screenshots of messages, and the details of officers who visit. Its Get support page offers a downloadable incident diary.
For the change itself, GOV.UK's wording for an adult deed poll can be written out and signed at no cost, and a deed kept unenrolled is not published. Two things are worth knowing before you choose a new name:
- From 16, a deed poll for yourself needs no parent's consent, unless a court order about you says otherwise. The handbook's page for 16 and 17 year olds covers the exceptions and enrolment.
- Your former name stays on some records: a DBS check, for one, asks for every name you have used. Who can see my former name? lists the others.
For advice by phone without a referral, the National Stalking Helpline is run by a different charity: see our Suzy Lamplugh Trust page.
This page describes what Paladin publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. Paladin has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
