Happy New Year
For many people, this last year has been so very difficult. People have been struggling with isolation on top of everything else. And yet we have seen people supporting each other and showing incredible resilience in the face of adversity.
We would like to thank each and every one of you for the support you have given us this year; whether you are a partner, client, funder, donor, colleague, volunteer or friend – your ongoing and continued support has been vital in keeping services going.
Wishing you a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.
Warmest wishes,
Jackie Stamp
Chief Executive
With your amazing support, this year we:
- Supported more clients than ever before – We’ve delivered phone, Teams, Zoom and Skype services for more than 2,000 clients each week.
- Won an award – We are proud to have won a national award from GSK and The Kings Fund. This included £30,000 funding and free training and development.
- Became accredited – We are proud to announce that we have been awarded the LimeCulture Adult ISVA and Children and Young Person’s ISVA Services Quality Standards.
- Adapted our counselling services – In response to COVID19, appointments were rearranged to telephone or video calling. Some clients who were initially concerned about the transition have now engaged fully – many prefer it. This has resulted in us being able to engage with more clients, including those in remote areas and with other barriers to access.
- Created and updated self-help resources – A range of leaflets and booklets on a range of topics including self-care, anxiety and panic attacks, and how to boost your mental health during COVID19 are available on our website.
- Continued to provide full service SARC services – We have continued to offer a full service 24/7, following the Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine guidelines. We’ve also created two SARC Coordinator positions to support the work carried out by the SARC teams.
- Create new ISVA roles to meet specific needs in the community– ISVAs have continued to support all clients remotely. We have created new specialist ISVA roles to address specific issues in our communities. The new Community Engagement ISVAs will focus on hard to reach areas and groups including BAME, LGBTQAI+, Rural Communities, Older Persons, and Anti-Slavery. The Mental Health ISVA will be the single point of contact (SPOC) on mental health, continue to improve our connections and partnerships with mental health organisations, and champion mental health issues in our ISVA team.
- Recruited a team of Sexual Violence Support Workers – We recruited 13 Sexual Violence Support Workers (SVSWs), who have joined our Wellbeing Service and will carry a caseload of clients, providing psychological support and advocacy as well as co-facilitating psycho-educational groups.
- Adapted our training – We have developed an extensive package of online training, delivering to both partner agencies and the general public alike. The training has been so well received that we will continue to develop courses to be delivered remotely in the future.
- Adapted our face-to-face services – In line with government guidelines, we’ve resumed some face-to-face services while ensuring staff and client safety.