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Coventry charity named winner at Guardian awards
“Working with survivors of sexual violence and abuse.”
Coventry based charity CRASAC (Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre) is named Guardian charity of the year, taking home £6,000 at an award ceremony that took place on the 15th December 2011. 950 worthy charities entered the awards that took place in Central London, but only five stood centre-stage and took home the prestigious prize. CRASAC, based in the city centre, has been established for 30 years, providing free services to victims or survivors of sexual violence and abuse either now or in the past. The charity provides a range of services in order to address the effects of sexual violence within a safe and caring environment. Winning £6,000 has enabled the charity to commence work on transforming an empty basement room into a bespoke refurbished suite that will be occupied by a childrens unit. This will enable an uptake of counselling for girls and boys from the age of 5 years old from referrals from local partner agencies. It will also help pay for leasing costs and counselling for the first year of the service. Dianne Whitfield, Centre Manager, from CRASAC said: ‘Rape and sexual violence remains a provocative and unpalatable truth within our society. A woman, man or child is raped in Britain every 6 minutes but the vast majority of people have no idea how widespread this crime is. This award will help us to give the victims and survivors that we support a more powerful voice. A voice that will help to dispel the damaging myths and stereotypes that blame the victim and excuse the rapist. A voice that everyone can and must hear. At CRASAC we have historically supported children from the age of 11 years. We knew there was a need to develop our services to support children younger than this but we didn’t have the resources. This award has helped to change this. But it’s not only the prize money. This national award will raise awareness of our service and the positive impact that the support of Rape Crisis Centres have on the lives of victims and survivors of rape and sexual violence. What the Guardian award has already done is to thank all the amazing women who have worked and volunteered at CRASAC over the last three decades’.
Judges David Brindle and Caroline Diehl said: “CRASAC is much more than just a rape crisis centre; it is an innovative charity that absolutely addresses a need within the community." See why CRASAC deserved to win by watching their video here:
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