Young Survivors

Aim: Helping young survivors of rape and sexual abuse aged 13-25 gain access to counselling and support services to help them in their recovery.

We are RASASC - the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre. We exist to help victims of rape and sexual abuse overcome the trauma they have experienced and take steps to move away from the abuse that has defined them.

Our Queens Award-winning charity has 30 years experience in supporting survivors of rape and sexual abuse aged 13 and over across Surrey. We support everyone irrespective of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or disability, and our team is made up of a small core of trained staff supported by passionate and dedicated volunteers, many with lived experience of sexual trauma.

COVID-19 has had far-reaching impacts for everybody, but for victims of rape and sexual abuse, the outcomes have been devastating.  Conviction rates are at an all time low. The criminal justice system is clogged, and delays are significant and lengthy. There has been a saturation of coverage in the media of several high profile cases of innocent victims sexually assaulted and killed on our streets. This, combined with public trust in the police at an all-time low, means that the survivors reaching out to us are more traumatised than ever before. 

RASASC Guildford offer support to survivors through our counselling, helpline and Independent Sexual Violence Advisor services

At RASASC Guildford, we have seen a significant 47% rise in young people aged 13-25 coming to us for help and support. These are very traumatised young people who have suffered profound and intense trauma. We want to ensure that we can support them all.  

This is where we need help. It's vital that we can secure funding to recruit trained sessional workers to enable us to deliver long-term trauma and group counselling, which will give our vulnerable young survivors of rape and sexual abuse the best chance of recovery. 

We have seen a rise in young survivors aged 13-25 looking for help after rape and sexual abuse

By supporting our Young Survivors project, you will enable us to support an additional 35 young survivors of rape and sexual abuse over a period of one year. 

This will ensure that we don't have to open a waiting list, which will only add to the immense stress already upon these young victims, and it will also mean that those coming to us for support can access it at the point of need, rather than having to wait to have a specialist worker allocated to them.

Please choose to support our Young Survivors project and help us meet the growing demand for support from vulnerable young survivors of rape and sexual abuse across Surrey.