Sunrise
Our service is free, inclusive, non-judgemental and confidential for survivors who have experienced sexual violence or abuse at any time in their lives. This can include rape, non-consensual image sharing, unwanted touching and kissing (What is sexual violence?)
- We offer support, information and advocacy in the Scottish Borders.
- Sunrise is for women aged 18+
Our Sunrise service is inclusive to women aged 18+ of any race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, or religion/cultural background.
What do we offer?
At our centre, we provide a women’s only safe space for you to use in any way you choose, for example to be listened to, for talking about your experiences or finding new ways of coping. We understand that sexual violence and abuse can impact everyone differently. The space is yours. You might want to talk about what happened or you may wish to focus on the impacts of what happened.
Sunrise Support Workers can offer face to face, online, email or telephone support sessions.
Our sessions last around 1 hour and we offer up to 12 sessions which can be weekly or fortnightly. There is also the possibility of additional sessions in some circumstances.
You can use these support sessions for recent or historical experiences.
Sessions can be at our centre in Galashiels or at a safe and confidential outreach venue near you e.g. a health centre, college or community centre.
What to expect
We will believe you.
We will listen to you.
We will support you.
We understand that the first step can take a lot of courage, you don’t need to give your real or full name. We will do everything we can to make accessing the service as easy as possible: you can text, call or email the centre.
Within our working week, we will always try to provide support at a day and time that suits you.
We won’t forget how important trust and confidentiality are to you. We will not share your information or contact the Police unless you ask us to. The exception to this is if there are child or adult protection concerns. We are required to share this information, but we will tell you wherever possible.
We understand that everyone reacts and feels differently after traumatic experiences so whatever you are feeling is a normal response to what happened to you.
