Hello from me
I feel deeply privileged to be appointed CEO in August of this year.
The SARAC we have today is very different from its humble beginnings of over 20 years ago. Sexual Abuse was very much a taboo subject. One of the founders Valerie Burton and her colleague’ s told us that no one spoke about it and there was no place for victims to go. A few forward-thinking women saw a need for a meeting place where victims could just off-load the trauma of their suffering.
Now we have counselling premises, a space for a drop in hub, a whole team of counsellors, a small and dedicated staff team and board, funders and supporters and firmly entrenched in the fabulous voluntary sector fabric of Burton on Trent.
Some of our vital private, life affirming, and rebuilding work takes place in safe locations, however I want you to know that figuratively or metaphorically if you prefer our doors are flung wide open to you…
We open to our networks, partners, friends, schools’ colleges, fellow voluntary sector organisations. We welcome discussion and debate ideas We are looking for opportunities to collaborate and share resources, educate, and learn.
Together we can push firmly against ‘normalising and ignoring’. Helping us react and develop new approaches to tackling the ever-changing picture of what abuse looks like.
A small resilient and reactive charity needs its partnerships so that it can respond to current issues such as the rise of online abuse and grooming during the lockdowns when people spent more time on their computer devices.
We are the only dedicated charity in Burton that specialises in this work and people don’t have to wait to be seen or heard once referred, a unique value that is extremely important for us to protect as waiting lists for most services now because of the pandemic are extremely lengthy. We thank you for being with us and standing proud together against not having those conversations around Sexual Abuse and trauma. We are open to learning and welcome ideas to move forward in a world where there is no guilt, shame, and unwillingness to share histories of abuse, that we may recognise and understand ways to help educate and prevent future lives from being affected by trauma.
