Support for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse
Lesley Griffiths, MS for Wrexham, applauded the work of Wrexham-based Stepping Stones North Wales. The charity provides free counselling and support services to adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse across the six counties of North Wales.
During a meeting at the charity's offices on King Street in Wrexham, members of the Stepping Stones North Wales team outlined the charity's work and the positive impact of its services for so many survivors. The team also highlighted that, although demand is continuing to increase across the whole region, securing the funds to meet increasing demand is becoming ever more challenging.
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Ms Griffiths heard first hand from service users about the impact the charity has had on the lives of both themselves and their families of the charity's recent success in securing a prestigious GSK Impact Award and full accreditation of its services from The Survivors Trust.
She commended the work of the whole Stepping Stones North Wales team during First Minister's Questions in the Senedd, and took the opportunity to highlight the importance of multi-year support from Welsh Government for charities in Wales.
Ms Griffiths asked the First Minister Eluned Morgan: "Could I begin by paying tribute to the counsellors, volunteers and the whole team of Stepping Stones North Wales, which is an organisation based in my constituency of Wrexham?
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"It supports and provides free counselling and support services to adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse right across all the six counties of North Wales, and last year was the charity's fortieth year. It was a particularly challenging year in terms of finance and also a significant increase in the demand for their services."
She added: "Sustainable funding is challenging, and when I met with the team members of Stepping Stones recently, they highlighted to me, whilst they greatly value the support from Welsh Government, the ability to strategically plan for the longer term is really essential.
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"So, First Minister, whilst I appreciate the Welsh Government budget is allocated on an annual basis, do you agree with me that multi-year funding settlements would assist organisations, such as Stepping Stones, to enable better long-term planning and provide support to many more individuals? Diolch."
The First Minister replied: "I recognise the importance of service providers like Stepping Stones. I'd like to congratulate the organisation—they won this year's GSK impact award. And we were very pleased to be able to give them an additional £102,000 this year to help reduce their waiting lists.
"They are making a difference to thousands of people in north Wales, and it was great that you went to visit them.
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The First Minister added: "Of course, in an ideal world, we'd like to see multi-annual funding. There are rules within our budgetary system that allows some of that to happen, but, obviously, up until very recently we've only had an annual funding settlement.
"But the multi-year funding is a key consideration of the Welsh Government because we recognise the importance of delivery on a sustainable basis, and to make sure that people can keep their jobs and keep the skills that are so critical in an area like this."
Stepping Stones North Wales CEO, Phil Eastment, said: "The whole Stepping Stones North Wales team is hugely grateful to Lesley Griffiths for meeting with us to discuss the challenges we face in meeting increasing demand for our services and to hear first-hand about the team's recent successes in securing a GSK Impact Award and accreditation from The Survivors Trust.
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"It was a huge honour, as always, to highlight the inspirational commitment and dedication of our counsellors, our support team, and our volunteers who provide such crucial support across North Wales.
"We are particularly grateful to Lesley for highlighting the work of our charity during First Minister's Questions and for raising the crucial issue of potential multi-year funding support."
• To learn more about Stepping Stones North Wales or to donate to the charity visit www.steppingstonesnorthwales.co.uk
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