Vital charity for survivors of rape and sexual abuse fears closure
The Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual abuse Centre is facing closure after a reduction in funding opportunities
The Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (GRASAC) has been supporting survivors for 42 years.
But, now due to funding reductions, there are real fears that it will have to close.
The charity was formed in 1984 by a group of women who saw that there wasn't the support available that there should have been for survivors of sexual violence.
GRASAC have supported thousands of women, men and children over the age of thirteen. They provide one to one counselling and specialist support for survivors of rape and sexual abuse across Gloucestershire.
GRASAC has people with lived experience across the charity. From volunteers to leadership, their advice and opinions help shape how the support is delivered and remains at the centre of the charity.
CEO Sharne Maher, says their work is a vital part of support for survivors in the county.
''Our clients have described the support that we give as a lifeline to them and as transformative in allowing them to get their lives back on track after experiencing the trauma of rape and sexual abuse.
We provide specialist one-to-one support. We provide group work and we provide counselling through our partner with EMDR, which is recognised as an excellent type of counselling for trauma.''©️
Support from the public could be a lifeline for the charity as they fight to stay open.
Sharne said there are things the community can do to support GRASAC, big and small.
''People can do things like organise a cake sale, they can do a small regular donation. They could get involved as a volunteer and give us some of their time. Talk to businesses as well, talking to their employer about whether they could nominate GRASAC as a charity of the year. That's something that we've seen before and it was really helpful for us.''
GRASAC faces closure next year if sufficient funding is not raised. Sharne spoke about why it is so important that their work can continue.
''It's vital because we have so many survivors of rape and sexual abuse across the county. We are getting over 50 referrals every single month, from women, men, and children, and we need to be able to support people to get their lives back on track.''
''We don't want people to just survive. We want them to actually thrive.''
GRASAC also do a lot of work around prevention. They deliver consent workshops in schools across Gloucestershire on the topic. This is a really important lesson for young people and future prevention.
The services GRASAC offer are unique in the way they support survivors of rape and sexual abuse here in Gloucestershire. Sharne fears that their closure will leave victims with no where to turn to.
She said, ''There will be a huge gap if GRASAC is not around to support victims and survivors. There isn't another charity providing the same service that we provide. There are other charities doing things that are slightly different.
But that therapeutic support, which helps people to rebuild their lives and gives a pathway for people to go through just wouldn't be there if GRASAC was not around.''
She added, ''It's imperative that we are around, and we are pulling out all the stops to make sure that we are.''
Find out more here: https://www.glosrasac.org/get-involved/donations