Trust House Reading

As you will all be aware, the coronavirus situation is changing daily. Our priority is the wellbeing of clients, staff and the community.

In light of this, we have carefully considered how we can continue our services with the least disruption. The realistic way forward is to move our services online. This would mean that counselling  and other work would continue uninterrupted as much as possible. The only service that is going to be affected by this would be our children’s play therapy services, where it is not possible to provide therapy online.

We are taking referrals  as usual: We will monitor the situation closely and provide further updates as we receive new information. Our Helpline number is 0118 958 4033 which continues to be covered by volunteers. We will return the service to full capacity when we are clear that risk to our clients, staff and the community with face to face contact is minimised.

Please everyone stay safe and well.

Trust House Reading Team

It is Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week from Monday 5th February  to Sunday 11th February this year and as such Trust House will be having a stall in Broad Street Mall, Reading on Thursday 8th February from 10.30am to 4.00pm. Please come along to show your support, to have a chat or to see our beautiful new elephant badges!

Trust House supports the #IT‘SNOTOK campaign which aims to raise awareness and understanding about issues surrounding rape, sexual violence and childhood sexual abuse as well as promote discussion and help educate communities and individuals on how sexual violence can be prevented. You can join the conversation on social media using #itsnotok or follow the campaign @itsnotok2018.

To read more about this national campaign please go to: www.sexualabuseandsexualviolenceawarenessweek.org

We are recruiting again for more helpline volunteers to allow us to extend our opening hours and be able to offer support when callers need us. We’re looking for volunteers to give just a few hours a week on our confidential helpline.
You’ll be offering telephone and email support, signposting and referring callers to our other services. No previous helpline experience is needed. Full training, ongoing support and regular supervision will be given. We need people who are caring, good communicators and who are organised as there will be some admin duties linked to the role.
Ideally we ask our volunteers to commit for a minimum of one year and they must be aged 18 or over.
If you’re interested in the role then we’d love to hear from you. Please email [email protected] and we will send you a role description and an application form.

Trust House Reading are proud to organise in association with West Berkshire Council the Sexual Health Event in Northbrook Street, Newbury on Friday 12^th August 2016 (12.00 – 16.00)

The event forms part of our annual awareness-raising campaign “The Elephant in the Room” which aims to challenge individuals, communities and society at large to start communicating about rape and sexual abuse. A topic that everyone is aware of but no one wants to talk about as it’s too uncomfortable or considered taboo.

Ask any survivor of sexual violence and abuse about living with “the elephant in the room” and they will understand exactly the dreadful burden of living day to day with the impact of their victimisation.

Victims of rape and sexual violence don’t ask to be raped, assaulted or abused and many find they are left to cope with the pain on their own.

It is never the victim’s fault

In their hearts, victims and survivors find this difficult to believe and very often society reinforces this belief with punishing attitudes and myths.

Our vision:

• To challenge the status quo of communication that exists around rape and sexual violence.
• To create an awareness of the taboo around talking about rape and sexual abuse.
• To empower and encourage survivors to speak out and seek help.
• To involve the community in acknowledging the needs of victims of rape and sexual abuse.

Namita Prakash, Service Manager at Trust House Reading, said: “We are looking forward to the awareness day. It is an opportunity to reach out to people who need critical support from our specialist services and to break the silence around rape and sexual abuse. I would like to invite everyone to come and make it a big success. ”

Please join us at our stall in Northbrook Street, Newbury on Friday 12^th August to help us to raise awareness of the issue of sexual violence, to provide information and to talk to the public about the specialist services we offer at Trust House Reading.

There will also be a confidential health clinic for young people at The Waterside Centre, Newbury.

For more information please contact Namita Prakash, Service Manager, Trust House Reading on: 07791 567155 or [email protected]

It’s Volunteers’ Week 2016 and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our wonderful volunteers who make it possible for us to provide our specialist services. Trust House Reading would not be able to help the women, men and children living in Berkshire affected by rape or sexual abuse without the hard work and commitment of our volunteers. We really appreciate everything you do. THANK YOU!

Trust House Reading was very fortunate to be chosen as one of Reading RAG’s (@readingrag) chosen charities for 2015/2016. Our Service Manager, Namita Prakash attended the cheque handover event last night at the University of Reading and we’re delighted to announce that they raised £3238.33 for Trust House Reading!
We would like to thank everyone who participated in the variety of fundraising events they organised such as posing for a calendar, getting lost in Warwick or consuming A LOT of doughnuts! We are extremely grateful for your generosity and this money will make a huge difference to the continuation of our services – offering specialist support to women, men and children who have been affected by rape or sexual abuse.

Wednesday 9th March, 10.00am – 4.00pm
Hotel Novotel Reading Centre – 25b Friar Street Reading RG1 1DP

Organised by Trust House Reading – The Body Keeps the Score: Working with Childhood Sexual Abuse and Complex Trauma – Christiane Sanderson

Working with survivors of childhood sexual abuse can raise many challenges for professionals. This workshop will explore the impact of childhood sexual abuse within a complex trauma framework and highlight some of the specific difficulties faced by survivors such as trauma responses, shame, traumatic bonding and fear of intimacy and relationships.  Emphasis will be placed on understanding the impact of childhood sexual abuse and how to work with survivors using the principles of safe trauma therapy to aid their work with survivors CSA. To this effect grounding techniques to restore internal control will be explored, alongside how to manage trauma symptoms, shame and relational difficulties and how to restore reality. Particular attention will also be placed on how working with survivors of CSA impacts on professionals and the importance of therapist self care to minimise vicarious traumatisation and secondary traumatic stress.

Christiane Sanderson BSc.; MSc is an experienced counselling psychologist, lecturer and trainer in psychology and counselling, with a particular interest in child protection, interpersonal abuse and trauma.  She is a senior lecturer in psychology at Roehampton University and consultant and trainer to both statutory and voluntary agencies, as well as a practitioner with 25 years experience working with survivors of CSA. 

Tickets cost £55

If you are interested in attending, please contact Michelle on [email protected] or 0118 9502835

The Survivors Trust is delighted to have been awarded funding to set up a new rape support centre in Berkshire under the Coalition Government’s commitment to open 15 new rape support centres. The new centre will be called Reading & Berkshire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre: Trust House.

Reading& Berkshire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre will be functional by early 2014 to provide practical and emotional support to women, men, young people and children who have been raped or sexually abused either recently or in the past. It will provide a range of services including:

• Specialist sexual violence counselling
• Helpline
• Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA)

The post Reading & Berkshire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre appeared first on The Survivors Trust Wales.

NAPAC (the National Association for People Abused in Childhood) is leading a coalition of charities in the call for legislation to introduce ‘Mandatory reporting’. The law would make failure to report suspected or known child abuse in ‘Regulated Activities’ a criminal offence. Regulated Activities include schools, sports clubs linked to national sports bodies, children’s homes and faith organisations*.

Pete Saunders, Chief Executive of NAPAC said: “Mandatory reporting is long overdue in this country. Parents will probably be shocked to learn that that such legislation does not already exist. Staff who suspect abuse may report it, but face no sanction for failing to report. In places such as Hillside First School, Downside, St Benedict’s, Stony Dean School and Little Teds Nursery, abuse went unreported to the authorities, leaving children at risk of further abuse.

People who work with children are under no statutory obligation to report known or suspected child abuse, even rape. They may decide to do so, but it is entirely discretionary and there is no sanction for failing to report. As a result of non existence of law, staff who do report are whistleblowers and have no statutory protection when speaking out in the most challenging of circumstances.

The only area of the UK where mandatory reporting does exist is Northern Ireland. Barry Gardiner MP (Brent North) was responsible for its strict application to educational settings during his time there as a junior minister in the Northern Ireland Office in Tony Blair’s Labour government.

Barry Gardiner said: “It should be mandatory to report, because these things must not be covered up. This is what has led to all the problems in the Church. It is what enables people to go on and commit offences again.”

Serious Case Reviews of child abuse cases have repeatedly revealed that professionals and others suspected years before that abuse was taking place but failed to inform the authorities.

Anne Lawrence, a barrister in educational and community care law, said: “The current statutory framework and government guidance makes very clear that decisions on whether to report concerns and allegations of child abuse to external agencies is discretionary, it is not mandatory. The worst that can happen to a person who fails to report an allegation or concern is that when the truth comes out, often many years later, that person may be disciplined by the professional body to which he or she  belongs. Such a system does not and cannot protect children from abuse. Mandatory reporting would require all concerns, reports and allegations of child abuse to be reported to external agencies such as the LADO and thus ensure appalling child protection failings such as Hillside do not happen in the future.”

James Rhodes, classical pianist, supports the Mandate Now campaign.  James tweeted “Reporting child rape is discretionary in the UK. Sign here to help. www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/educationgovuk-introduce-law-requiring-adults-working-with-children-to-report-alleged-abuse-mandatenow  Would’ve helped me a lot as a kid. Pls RT.”  He stars in forthcoming Channel 4 documentary “James Rhodes: Notes from the Inside”, which will be broadcast on Channel4 on 24 July 2013.

NOTES 

The Mandate Now petition went live on 1 May 2013.  http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/educationgovuk-introduce-law-requiring-adults-working-with-children-to-report-alleged-abuse-mandatenow  #MandateNow

Countries which operate mandatory reporting include: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Sweden, USA, and now the Republic of Ireland which on the 10th November 2012 held a referendum which approved mandatory reporting.

*Regulated Activities include schools, sports clubs linked to national sports bodies, children’s homes and faith organisations and similar institutions as defined by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 where children are cared for by adults other than their parents.

MANDATE NOW COALITION

NAPAC – national charity supporting adults who have been abused in any way as children. www.napac.org.uk

THE SURVIVORS TRUST – national umbrella agency for over 135 specialist rape, sexual violence and childhood sexual abuse support organisations throughout the UK and Ireland.

SURVIVORS UK –  helps men who have been sexually violated and raises awareness of their needs. www.survivorsuk.org

RESPOND  –  works with children and adults with learning disabilities who have experienced abuse or trauma.www.respond.org.uk

INNOCENCE IN DANGER – International Charity recently arrived in the UK which is dedicated to the eradication of child abuse and sex trafficking. www.innocenceendanger.org/en/

MEDIA INFORMATION

Pete Saunders, Chief Executive of NAPAC Tel 203 176 0560, Mobile 07977  975402 Email [email protected]

Twitter @MandateNow

The post Reporting child abuse is discretionary in the UK. ‘Law must change’ say charities appeared first on The Survivors Trust Wales.

Right to Review – Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel

TST is recommending member agencies and ISVAs to alert their clients to the new right to review which has just been established by the Crown Prosecution Service and Police.    The issue of survivors feeling that their case has not been investigated thoroughly or that perpetrators have not been charged has caused great distress for many survivors over many years.  Whilst the new right to review does not guarantee that a case will be re-investigated or that a decision not to charge will be overturned, there is at least now an opportunity for survivors to have the chance to challenge the outcome either with the Police or CPS.

ACPO and CPS have formed a child sexual abuse review panel to look at cases where the victim is not satisfied that their original allegation/s were dealt with appropriately.

The panel will review cases and advise whether the allegations should be either be reinvestigated by the police or whether the decision not to prosecute should be reviewed by the CPS.  The case will be referred back to the police force or CPS Area where the case originated.

Cases can be referred to the panel either by the individual through a dedicated email address – [email protected] – which will automatically refer correspondence to the panel secretariat.  Complainants can also request the police force or CPS Area that originally dealt with their allegation to refer their case to the review panel.

The panel will consider cases where these factors apply:

• the complaint is in respect of an alleged sexual offence committed against the complainant;
• the complaint of an allegation of an sexual offence has previously been made to the police;
• a decision to take no further action was taken by the police or by the CPS;
• the complainant has asked the police or the CPS to look again at that decision;
• the alleged sexual offence was committed when the complainant was under 18 years of age; and
• the alleged perpetrator/s may still pose a risk. (The threshold for risk is set very low and simply means that the perpetrator may currently or in the future have the opportunity to commit further offences)

There is no restriction on the context or setting of where the alleged offending behaviour took place for the purpose of the case being re-considered by the panel. However, the alleged offence must have been committed in England and Wales.

The panel will not consider cases if these factors apply:

• the complainant has not previously reported the matter to the police as this will therefore be a new complaint that the police will need to investigate;
• new evidence has come to light prompting a fresh investigation by the police;
• the allegation is of child sexual abuse alleged to have occurred after 5 June 2013 (the date of introduction of the Victims Right to Review in the CPS).

The panel will consist of a Chief Crown Prosecutor, an ACPO rank police officer, a specialist prosecutor, and experienced child abuse police investigator, and an appropriate independent representative.

Sole responsibility for taking this decision in the panel rests with the police and CPS members.

The independent representative in the panel will play an advisory role i.e. they will receive and consider the relevant information and provide views to the police and CPS members of the panel as to the decision they consider should be taken.

Click here to read the article on the CPS website.

The post Right to Review – Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel appeared first on The Survivors Trust Wales.