RASASC (Guildford) - History

Need identified for a referral centre covering Surrey and Hampshire.

Initial funding found. First volunteers recruited. September 1993 telephone Helpline in operation two evenings per week.

Face-to-Face counselling service began.

Telephone service extended to five evenings per week. October 1996 achieved UK Registered Charity status.

Employment of first part-time paid worker.

Group facilitation training began. September 1998 first self-help support groups established.

All existing services enhanced and continued. Review and restructure of organisation undertaken.

Two intakes of volunteers achieved, enabling possibility to extend RASASC services.

Telephone Helpline service extended to six evenings per week. Office rented and administrator employed, website established. Daytime counselling and family support sessions established.

Joined The Survivors Trust (national umbrella organisation). Established telephone supervision for other professionals. New publicity drive and extensive coverage in the media. First fundraising event. Obtained Lankelly Foundation grant. Established specialised training for other organisations. Face-to-Face counselling: took on RASASC’s first male counsellor.

Plan implemented for the future of ongoing groups for survivors at RASASC. Two intakes of volunteers. New website with extensive foreign language facility available to our client base.

Moved to new office. Resolved a financial crisis threatening the survival of RASASC in summer/autumn. Began to plan and fund an expansion of RASASC to increase our volunteer base from 30-70 persons during the next two years. Established a linked counselling service in Woking.

Received Big Lottery Funding to enable focus on training new Helpline volunteers. Established new training format and trained two more intakes of female Helpline volunteers to work from the RASASC office. Set up and began training of male volunteers for a new Male Helpline to open in 2006. Victim Fund support for setting up Male Helpline. Guildford Borough Council offered larger and permanent premises at low rent. Ran new support groups, ongoing training and workshops to support Helpline volunteer work.

Focused on fundraising events involving the volunteers. External applicants recruited as further RASASC Trustees. New system introduced to handle regular helpline callers. Recruited counsellors from outside RASASC to increase the number from 10 to 15. Added an extra counselling night in Guildford. Planning began for move to larger premises rented from Council.

Renovated new permises (paint, furniture etc.) and completed relocation. Helpline calls continued to rise by over 30%. Achieved a greater spread of funding sources, providing a larger number of smaller grants. Recruited 2 new counsellors (returning our total to 15) and increased volunteer support to 70.