Sexual assault is any sexual act that you haven’t consented to or is forced upon you. This can include groping, forced kissing, upskirting, sexual comments and sexual bribery (the promise of something you need in return for a sexual act).

No. Many people come to us to understand what happened to them a long time ago.

No. Freezing, or being unable to react is a very common response to intense trauma. Your body shuts down as a way of protecting you, it does not mean you consented to what happened.

These are all very normal reactions to intense trauma. We have some self-help resources on our website that can help you deal with some of the issues you are facing. There are also lots of useful resources on The Survivors Trust resources website.

Medical appointments that require a physical examination can be particularlty hard for survivors of sexual abuse. 

The Survivors Trust website lists national rape and sexual abuse support services. Please check here for services in your area.

You can make a donation to support our vital work, we are grateful for all donations, however big or small.

We’re sorry If the service you have received from us has not been to our expected standard. 

Our helpline is a listening service for survivors of rape or sexual abuse, and those supporting a survivor. Our specially trained advisors can also signpost callers to other, suitable services.

No. The exception to this is in the case of a young person (aged 13-17). In this instance we have a duty of care to inform Children’s Services that we are working with a young person on a sexual abuse allegation, but we would not inform anyone else.

No. This is entirely your choice, we will support you whether you wish to report the offence(s) or not.

Supporting young people under the age of 13 is a very specialist area, and there are services such as the Sexual Trauma Assessment Recovery and Support (STARS) that work with younger survivors.

Yes. This would only change if we felt there was a risk to yourself or others. In this instance, we would look to discuss the need to break confidentiality and our reasons for doing this with you first, if possible.

Yes, we support all survivors  regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or disability,  over the age of 13 from across Surrey, who have been raped, sexually abused or have had an unwanted sexual experience.

You can refer into adult counselling through our website. The referral form is at the top of the adult counselling page , linked by an orange button. If you can't see a form, that means the service has closed for that month.

This can depend on the counselling service you wish to access (adult counselling, youth counselling or family support).

Once you have contacted us, you then have an initial virtual assessment with one of our counsellors. This assessment is to establish whether counselling would be helpful to you, and the length of support needed.

We offer two types of group support, an Introductory Group and a Therapy Group.  Group counselling can help with the sense of isolation that many people feel after experiencing sexual violence. 

Once you have referred into our counselling service, we will discuss with you the length of counselling you may need and the service which best meet your needs.

The helpline exists to give support to survivors and their families, and callers may need to make more than one call. Our helpline volunteers can signpost callers to suitable services which can help them further, and due to this, we would expect there to be a natural time when you don’t need the helpline service anymore.

No. Our trained helpline vounteers can support you and offer advice, or just listen if you need them to, but they won't expect you to tell them what happened to you if you aren't ready, or don't want to.

No. The helpline is closed on bank holidays. 

Our helpline is manned by specially trained female volunteers aged 23 and above. (This is a genuine occupational requirement)

You need to complete the referral form on our website and email it to isva@rasasc-guildford.org. One of our ISVAs will contact you within five working days of us receiving your form.

No. We only do home visits in exceptional circumstances. It's more beneficial for both you and the ISVA to meet in a neutral location away from your home where you can speak freely. Your ISVA will discuss an appropriate place to meet with you.

Your ISVA will support you for as long as you need. Once you both feel ready to move forward, they will discuss with you a plan for reducing support.

Your ISVA is there to explain the options available to you. They will not force you to do anything, you are in control of your own decisions – including whether you would like to report to the police or not - they will simply advise you on your options and support you where you need it.

RASASC take part a number of official events each year, and details of these and how to get involved, will be on the events page of our website.

All participants that enter an official event on RASASC’s behalf, will be asked to sign our event T&Cs. These help clarify the amount you’re pledging to raise for RASASC, whether you’re happy for us to promote your efforts on social media, and whether you are happy to join our fundraising database. The T&Cs also clarify what to do if you can no longer take part in your event. 

We set a fundraising target for each official event, as RASASC buys places in these events at a cost as well as materials (such as running vests etc), so it helps us recoup this cost, as well as giving us the opportunity to raise money for our services and the chance to raise awareness of who we are and what we do with the general public.

If you are taking part in an official running event, we will provide you with a RASASC branded technical t-shirt to wear for your event. We endeavour to get this out to you as soon as we can before the event to allow you time to train in it. 

As a small charity that is mindful of funds, we won’t have an official cheer station on the day, but we do sometimes have RASASC volunteers and staff members that go along of their own accord to support our participants, so do look out for them!

If you set up a fundraising page for your event through our secure page on JustGiving , then any money raised will automatically be transferred to us after your event. 

For the London Landmarks Half Marathon in April 2024 we had ten places. We have now completed our team for this event.

RASASC paid £140 for each place, and we are asking participants to pledge to raise £300.