Centre Gives Hope To Abused Children

The tranquil surroundings at a former Black Isle primary school are in stark contrast to the turmoil suffered on a daily basis by its visitors.

For 21 years the Killen Family Resource Centre, which nestles against a background of peaceful countryside, has offered a therapeutic service for children and young people to help them recover from the effects of childhood abuse and neglect.

It operates as part of the national charity Children 1st, formerly the Royal Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which has supported families under stress and protected children from harm and neglect for over 120 years.

The service is one of over 40 nationwide which benefits people from a wide area across the Highlands. It helps children recover from abuse and promotes their rights and interests, with the aim to protect the children and young adults from further abuse.

Five full-time and four part-time workers at the centre also help adults who have been abused as children and provide individual counselling and family support.

“Killen is one of the more established services from Children 1st and is extremely important in relation to offering children and young people support and opportunities to recovery from abuse and trauma, which they wouldn’t otherwise have,” said

Jackie Hothersall , the charity’s assistant director for the North of Scotland. “Although it’s based on the Black Isle it provides support to families from right across the Highlands, acting as a hub with outreach services to Wick and Thurso on a weekly basis.”

During 2005/06, 75 people used the service, including 26 young children. The largest number of referrals were from Ross and Cromarty with 35 per cent, while 22 per cent came from Inverness.

One of the children was Nicola, who had been sexually abused by her mother’s former partner and was referred to the charity aged six because she had acted out her abuse on other children which resulted in her being stigmatised and discriminated against at school and in the community. She was helped through play to become accepted by other youngsters. However, the charity said work was ongoing to ensure Nicola’s own safety because she remained vulnerable.

Teenager Judy was offered help at the centre after her mother Amy contacted the charity for advice when she found out her daughter had been sexually abused by her cousin for two years. Music, dance, therapeutic games and drawing helped Judy cope and grow in confidence and self-esteem. Joint sessions with her mother allowed them a safe place to share their feelings and their determination to support each other.

Another victim of family sexual abuse was 15-year-old Vanessa who suffered at the hands of her father for two years. She contacted the centre after the family had learned the case against her father was not going to court due to insufficient evidence. In addition, her mother’s long-buried memories of her own childhood sexual abuse had resurfaced.

One project worker began weekly counselling sessions with Vanessa while a second undertook fortnightly appointments with her mother. Children 1st staff said Vanessa worked hard to share her painful experiences and was helped to talk about her feelings and begin to make sense of her conflicting and confusing emotions. Her mother’s case was equally complex, but she recently felt able to tell her own family about the abuse and was able to accept their support.

Fifteen-year-old Kath went to the centre after she had kept the fact she was raped when she was 13 a secret. The youngster, who cut her own arms, misused drugs and alcohol, had an unsettled childhood after her father left home. When Kath first came she described herself as very angry. Her abuser was never convicted due to lack of evidence and she felt she was not believed and failed by the social work and legal systems. Staff helped her talk about her experiences and the effect on her life so she could move forward.

The service is funded by Highland Council, the Scottish Executive’s Violence Against Women Fund and donations to the charity.

Children 1st regional fund-raiser Katie Gibb (front right) receives a donation of over £5000 from LifeScan Scotland’s managing director Todd Kinser as staff from the company lend a helping hand painting and decorating at the charity’s old schoolhouse next to the Killen Family Resource Centre. Northern Exposures.

An injection of over £5000 from Inverness medical firm LifeScan Scotland will allow the centre to refurbish the old schoolhouse, which is used for longer stays and for families who live too far away to make regular trips.

Children 1st’s Mrs Hothersall described the cottage as an integral part of the service. “The grant is going to be used to make it more welcoming and more viable for us to bring people in from across the Highlands so that they can get more intense support rather than seeing them once a week as they can stay there,” she commented.

“The changes will just make it more habitable because we haven’t had the resources to do it before which is why the grant is extremely important.” She explained the money would pay for a new kitchen and new bathroom with work due to be complete before the end of October.

The donation came after staff from the company’s communication team spent a morning gardening at the centre last September as part of a team-building exercise. “We are delighted that LifeScan has been so impressed with the work done at our centre that staff have given up their time and chosen Killen as the recipient of this money,” commented Anne Houston, chief executive of Children 1st.

“The efforts of staff will make a real difference to the safe, healing and welcoming environment we seek to create for children and families who have suffered abuse and trauma in the Highlands,” she added.

Twelve members of the company’s quality assurance team spent last Monday , painting and decorating the schoolhouse to provide a more welcoming appearance for the children and families who attend. “We’re very aware that it’s not just money that helps local charities and that volunteers are priceless,” said Todd Kinser, the firm’s new managing director.

“By rolling up our sleeves and getting stuck into jobs that really need doing, not only do we help the charity, but we also learn some valuable lessons about team-building that we can take back into the workplace.”

LifeScan, formerly Inverness Medical, has a history of supporting the charity after donating around £3000 annually for the last eight years. It has also traditionally entered teams into the charity’s annual Great River Ness Raft and Duck Race which this year takes place on 25th August.

Last year 25 rafts took to the water as the four-man teams raised £7800 for Scotland’s leading childcare charity and the closing date for this year’s entries is four days before the event.

Councillor Margaret Davidson, who is chairwoman of Highland Council’s housing and social work committee said the importance of the work done by Killen could not be exaggerated in anyway. “Victims of abuse don’t easily talk about it,” reflected the councillor who represents Aird and Loch Ness.

“It’s a skilled job and every child they help come to terms with what has happened with them and take a grip on their lives and their future is beyond a price in some ways. If people are abused they can carry it with them for years,” she added.

“Sometimes they blame themselves, but these folks help them sort these things out and if they can do it while they are young and put things in context for them it is extremely valuable.”