| The Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre
has evolved from Warrington Rape Crisis, |
| which was founded in 1995.
In 2004 we opened our second centre in St. Helens. |
| Our approach to the work we
do is 'person centred'. This means we aim to help |
| the people who use our service
discover the best way of working |
| with the issues they bring,
at their own pace. |
| |
| What You Can Do |
| If you have experienced any
kind of sexual abuse and / or violence in your life, |
| and would like to talk about
it, you can get in touch with us. |
| We will listen to you,
we will respect you and we will believe you. |
| If you do decide to contact
our centre, you can do so in the first instance by email,
|
| telephone
or letter. |
| What usually happens at this
point is that we invite you to come in and meet with a |
| volunteer or a member of staff.
They will explain about the different services we
|
| can offer, such as individual
counselling, support etc., and they will also |
| tell you about our confidentiality
policy and try to answer any initial questions |
| you may have. This meeting is
not a counselling session and you will not have to |
| make an immediate decision about
taking up a service. |
| |
| We are a registered
charity that works with people affected by sexual violence. |
| This means that
as well as working with men, women and young people who have been |
| subject to sexual
violence, we offer support to non-abusing family members |
| such as partners
or parents. |
| |
| The centre was first
established in Warrington, Cheshire in 1995 as Warrington Rape |
| Crisis. During 2000
our name changed to Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre |
| (Warrington) to
reflect the wider range of issues we were dealing with. As result of a |
| recent Community
Fund grant we recently opened an additional base in St Helens, |
| Merseyside and become
Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (North West) to reflect |
| our growing regional
importance. |
| |
| The centre employs
a manager, a male project co-ordinator,
2 Community workers, |
| a St Helens project coordinator, 2 young persons counsellors,sessional trainers and |
| sessional therapeutic supervisors. A team
of over 40 volunteers who have all taken part |
| and passed our in house training course
undertakes much of the direct work with service |
| users. Many of the volunteers are
qualified counsellors and each year we usually recruit |
| around 6 to 10 second year Diploma
Students. The centre also provides placement |
| opportunities for social work students. |
| |
| We have a strong
commitment to ensuring that we deliver a quality service and are a |
| organisational member
of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. In |
| recognition of our
commitment to training and development we also hold the prestigious |
| Investors in People
standard. |
| |
Back
to menu |
| |
| All the services we offer are
free of charge and are confidential within the organisation. |
| The people providing the services,
along with the two members of staff, are all |
| trained volunteers of varying
backgrounds, age, sexual orientation, gender and culture. |
| |
- We listen to and support women, men & young people (over the age
of 14)
who have been raped, assaulted, sexually abused as children, sexually
harassed
at work or have experienced any other form of sexual violence.
|
| |
- If you know someone who
has experienced sexual violence, we can help you to support them.
|
| |
- We offer a Help Line service and individual counselling.
|
| |
- We can provide support for people wishing to be accompanied to clinics,
court and the police station.
|
| |
- We can give you information about pregnancy testing, abortion and
sexually transmitted diseases.
|
| |
| For all the ways of contacting
the centre please click on contact. |
| Male
Survivors Of Sexual Abuse |
| |
| The Centre recognises
the effect of sexual violence on men and boys and has |
| considerable experience
in working with male survivors and their immediate family |
| members. |
| |
| It is known that
like women, men who experience sexual abuse can be profoundly |
| affected by psychological
and mental health issues. Men can experience a wide |
| range of emotions
including shock and depression, denial, anger, hurt and extreme |
| sadness, guilt,
shame, isolation and loneliness all of which can contribute towards the
|
| survivor feeling
totally disorientated and confused about their role. Couple this with |
| the many myths that
prevail within society about sexual abuse it is common for |
| survivors, whether
as a child or adult, to experience one or more of the following: |
| |
- Feeling unsafe
- Fearful
- Easily startled
- Flashbacks
- Nightmares
- Sleeping difficulties
- Tearfulness
- Concentration difficulties
- Anxiety
- Loss of interest in sex
- Physical symptoms - headaches, gastric distress,
fatigue, lethargy etc.
|
| Our specially trained
counsellors and support workers are here to help either |
| yourself or immediate
family members in dealing with the effects of male sexual |
| abuse. We can work
on a one-to one or group basis in order to assist on the road to |
| recovery. Remember
YOU ARE NOT ALONE - HELP IS AVAILABLE - CONTACT US!! |
| |
| |
Back
to menu |
| |
| Volunteering
With RASASC |
| |
There are many things
that volunteers can do within the organisation. Here are a few :
|
|
- Counselling
- At the centre or other outreach location for
volunteers who are / have completed Counselling Diploma Courses.
We can also offer counselling placements for Diploma students.
- Assessments
- Undertake initial meetings with clients
to assess their needs.
- Help-line
- Telephone counselling, advice and
information.
- Support
- Providing practical and emotional
support to clients.
- Publicity
- Helping to promote the service and
raise awareness.
- Office Duties
- Help with day to day administration.
- Committee
- Assist with the management and
direction of the organisation.
- Fundraising
- Helping to raise funds so that the
organisation can continue to grow and
develop
|
| |
| Because of the sensitive
nature of the work we feel it is essential that all |
| volunteers complete
and pass our in house training course. All volunteers are required to |
| provide a satisfactory
standard disclosure with the Criminal Records Bureau. |
| |
| Before we offer
volunteers a place on the training course we invite all potential volunteers |
| to attend a selection/information
event. This is an opportunity to find out more |
| information about
the organisation and to enable volunteering needs to be met. |
| |
| Selection events
and training courses are held periodically throughout the year. |
| |
| If you are interested in volunteering with RASASC please contact Ian at the St Helens |
| Office for further details. |