News

The Struggle On Friday 10th November at 7pm we will meet at Storyhouse in Chester to 'Reclaim The Night'. The history of the Reclaim The Night protest goes back to...

Hear an interview with our Outreach Manager Kathryn about the work she's doing with Purple Leaf and Live with Positive Bystander Training. This training helps people to understand how to...

CSASS is switching over to becoming a CIO, as agreed at our AGM in 2022.  https://csass.org.uk/2022/04/25/1434/ The changeover is happening on Friday 22nd September.  It will make practically no difference...

Hi Susan, explain why you originally chose to volunteer with CSASS?I originally chose to volunteer for CSASS as part of my work based learning module at The University of Chester....

The Spanish women's national football team win again and this time share their victory with all women. In a huge victory for female solidarity and arguments around consent, Luis Rubiales...

Our First Week at CSASS Hello, our names are Sophie and Sofia (everyone gets us confused). We are work based learning students from the University of Chester completing a 5-week...

Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service is a friendly team of people, working to transform the lives of survivors of sexual violence. We are seeking a part time Communications and Fundraising...

The University of Chester are hosting a Diversity Festival February 27th - March 10th, the University of Chester are hosting a diversity festival with a range of different free events....

Over the Christmas period, all CSASS services will be closed until Tuesday, January 3rd. Our counselling services will be closed from Saturday, 17th December and the final Support Line and...

Choose CSASS as your local Co-op Charity! CSASS was recently nominated for the Co-op local community fund, this means you can support us through just doing your normal shopping. Whenever...

BACP pilot bursary scheme As part of our 2022 diversity action plan, CSASS has been supporting BACP initiatives to diversify the counselling workforce.  For some survivors, it is vital to...

Thank you, Vixens Cheerleaders, for your fundraising! Chester Cheerleaders, the Vixens are known locally for fundraising for many good causes.  The group ‘sleep-out’ annually, to raise money for Chester Aid...

#webelieveyou sticker campaign During North West Sexual Violence Awareness Week, CSASS are launching the #webelieveyou campaign. Vicki (CSASS Support Line Lead) and CSASS volunteers will be visiting countryside pubs and...

North West Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2022 takes place from 3-10th November “pop-up” stands at University of Chester Campuses will be appearing through the week. As part of North West...

Chester Reclaim the Night march & Vigil 2022 will take place on Thursday 10th November, during North West Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2022. Banner/placard making will be happening at the...

CSASS are disappointed to learn about the conduct of the recent MP for Chester, who has resigned today.  This follows an Independent Expert Panel recommendation that he be suspended from...

Survivors attending Walk and Talk, and Saturday Social told us . . . What CSASS means to me

Attending the Rape Crisis England and Wales Conference I am writing this blog post shortly after attending a two-day Rape Crisis England and Wales conference in Manchester. This was my...

CSASS has been nominated for the Tesco community grant CSASS has recently been nominated for the Tesco community grant, a customer vote allowing people to easily support charities and non-profit...

Our excellent friend and comedian Kate McCabe supported us at out AGM again this year, donating her time to give the rest of us a much-needed laugh. If you were...

Our AGM was held back in June, at the Church Bar in Chester.  One of our trustees, Barbara, was there . . . "The CSASS AGM was a fun night!...

Trustees launched the People Matter project in June this year. Throughout the year, trustees will be asking people at CSASS two questions: What are our shared values? And how do...

Clinical Supervisor Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service (CSASS) is a friendly team of people, working with adult survivors of sexual violence to improve health and wellbeing, to cope better, and...

Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service is a friendly team of people, working with adult survivors of sexual violence to improve health and wellbeing, to cope better, and feel informed, empowered...

Dear friends of CSASS - survivors, volunteers, freelancers, staff and fellow Trustees, After some 5½ years’ involvement with CSASS as a board member, Secretary and, for 3 years, Chair, I...

We are recruiting: Chair to the board of trustees Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service (CSASS) is a friendly team of people, working with survivors of sexual violence. We aim to...

Tuesday 14th June 2022, 6:30pm, at The Church, Chester  Come along to The Church bar in Chester on June 14th and hear all about what CSASS has achieved this year (as well as...

Becoming a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) Our current constitution is out of date.  It’s an old model (Registered Charity) no longer available to new organisations.  The Charity Commission has been...

We are recruiting: Supportline Lead  Deadline extended to 30th of May Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service (CSASS) is a friendly team of people, working with survivors of sexual violence. We...

CSASS has a range of different services for survivors available. If you are waiting for counselling, or have finished counselling – or if counselling is just not for you at...

With Voiceover, BSL, and Subtitles Someone tells you they have been raped or assaulted.  What do you say? How can you help them? Watch our video. Made in partnership with...

A letter of thanks from the Chair of CSASS Dear survivors, volunteers, staff, and supporters of CSASS, I won’t take much of your time, but I wanted to share a...

Friday 12th November – 8pm The Cross, Watergate Street, Chester Join us for a Vigil at The Cross.  Come and remember the victims of gender-based violence.  We will reflect and...

Kathryn, our Outreach Manager, gave a presentation about CSASS and what we do, to the amazing volunteers at Samaritans at their annual AGM.  The volunteers said, “we thoroughly enjoyed the...

All are welcome at #SafetyNet 23rd – 28th September, Port Arcades in Ellesmere Port. Jodie Gibson, Freelance Creative #SafetyNet is an interactive installation and programme of activity, led by Jodie...

We have been changing things a little here at CSASS. We've read up on the latest government guidance and keep an eye on local Covid rates. Staff and volunteers have...

Sunday 26th of September at 11am at Chester Race Course Come and support CSASS at the Chester Business Club Sponsored walk. A sexual assault charity helping survivors through counselling, support...

The new CSASS Wellbeing Group is an opportunity for survivors of sexual violence to access support in a safe and inclusive therapeutic space. The aim of the group is to...

In memory of Sarah Everard, who was killed when she was just walking home, and all other women and girls killed this year. Create a mini-banner at home, and fix...

Volunteer and student Beth Skidmore, who aspires to work within survivor support after finishing university, has been given the University of Chester Volunteer Gold Award for her work with the...

Staff, volunteers, and trustees from CSASS attended the conference virtually this year, and it was quite an experience! We asked our delegates to share a little of what they learned.  Professional development – practical suggestions, new...

Dear CSASS volunteer, Like everyone I suspect, I didn’t want to believe that nearly 8 months on from March, we would be back in lockdown and facing a still deeply...

Since March, CSASS have been keen to continue the work and projects. Zoom became the new way to work closely as everyone was put into Lock Down, due to Covid-19.   The dance...

CSASS trustee and counsellor, Teresa Brady, passed away earlier this year.  Teresa was a wise, compassionate, experienced and much loved volunteer counsellor at CSASS for many years.  She also contributed...

Over the summer, we carried out our first text survey of survivors that we had been in touch with during lockdown.  69% described the impact of Covid on their mental...

Volunteer Counsellor (and now CSASS Supportline Lead) Sarah Allen Sarah has been volunteering with CSASS as a Counsellor since 2018. She has recently taken on the role of Support Line...

What we are doing to help you stay safe... The team as CSASS have been working hard to ensure that we can open our office again, and return to face-to-face...

The Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service is looking for qualified BACP registered counsellors to join our team in a self-employed sessional capacity. CSASS is a registered charity that transforms the...

Name:  Sam Age:  30 Role:  Counsellor Start date? (if you can remember!) Approx 2017 Favourite type of cake:  Carrot What made you want to volunteer for CSASS? CSASS is a...

Lockdown has been a very stressful time for a lot of people, and we know that if you already struggle with mental health issues, it can be even harder to...

Hello to all who support the aims and work of CSASS, I am writing to you in my capacity as Chair of CSASS, but to be honest I really want...

Due to the current situation occurring with the COVID-19 virus, the team at CSASS have made the decision to pause our face-to-face counselling services. We know that survivors continue to...

With ever-increasing numbers of survivors coming to us for counselling, we’re always looking for ways to expand.  We’re so grateful to the people and organisations who are supporting this through...

Sarah McManus - CSASS Supportline Volunteer First Name (optional): Sarah McManus Age: 31 Role: CSASS Supportline Advisor Start date? (if you can remember!): December 2019 Favourite type of cake: Chocolate...

Once survivors have got to the point when they feel they are ready to finish their counselling, we ask them to fill out a questionnaire about how they are feeling...

Earlier this month, the staff at CSASS decided to show our volunteers how much we value the work they do by treating them to an evening of wellbeing and meditation....

Chester’s annual Reclaim the Night for women and the vulnerable in Chester was hosted by Chester’s Storyhouse Theatre last Saturday 9th November.  Reclaim the Night is an international movement against sexual violence....

Chester’s annual Reclaim the Night for women and the vulnerable in Chester will be from Chester’s Storyhouse Theatre from 7.30pm on Saturday 9th November.  Reclaim the Night is an international movement...

On Sunday 15th of September, a group of us from CSASS once again put on our walking boots and took part in the Chester Business Club Sponsored Walk. The annual...

The Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service (CSASS) will be launching a new online support service for survivors of sexual violence in Cheshire on Monday, October 14. The new helpline has...

My introduction to working with CSASS has already been an exciting and rewarding experience. Since starting in September, I have already been involved with the Saturday Social group, raising funds...

CSASS will be taking part in the annual Chester Business Club Sponsored Charity Walk, on Sunday, September 15, at Chester Racecourse. This lovely annual event is an opportunity to meet,...

When I was pregnant with my son in 2018, I thought about the number of times I had gone to buy a gift for new parents and had no idea...

Outreach Manager, Kaety Moon, has decided to move on from her role at CSASS, in order to focus more on her other 1:1 therapy work, and to be able to...

"[A few years ago] I was sexually assaulted in my place of work, this devasted me and brought back trauma from my childhood. I entered the new year in fear,...

Chris Mann, Chair of the Board of Trustees for CSASS Please allow me to introduce myself – my name is Chris Mann and I became Chair of the Board of...

On June 11, 2019, CSASS members, volunteers, trustees, staff, and supporters all gathered in the fantastic venue; The Church, Chester, to take a look at the progress we've had in...

This year's AGM includes a special performance from comedian Kate McCabe! This year's AGM is set to be a fantastic evening with comedy from the amazing Kate McCabe, a chance to hear...

Rose McGowan rose from the ashes to offer survivors this message of support Members of CSASS went to watch Rose McGowan in conversation with Sam Baker at Storyhouse in her...

On Sunday 28th April, CSASS Centre Manager, Alison Breadon, joined theologians Dr Katie Edwards and Dr Dawn Llewellyn on The Garret stage at Storyhouse as part of the Storyhouse Women...

We always ask survivors to give us some feedback on the service once they are ready to end their counselling, but some people aren't quite able to put into words...

The Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service is delighted to have been awarded a total of £90,000 (over 3 years) from the Ministry of Justice, which will help support us in...

CSASS took part in Re-Presenting Women, the Chester Women’s Aid Art Trail. There were 12 artworks around the city for people to find.CSASS Outreach Manager, Kaety Moon, created a Venus...

CSASS has doubled over the last few months! Kaety Moon - Outreach Manager Kaety Moon, CSASS Outreach Manager “Hello, I'm Kaety, and I work in outreach with our local community...

Thanks to Rape Crisis England and Wales, who have sent some Tampon Tax funding* our way, we have been given the resource to transform our CSASS website. The last one...

Reclaim the Night 2018 was a huge success and we had a fantastic afternoon making banners at Storyhouse before Handbag of Harmonies sang for us as we marched across the...

"On a lovely autumn Sunday I donned my trainers and made my way to the Riverside entrance of the university, to join an increasingly large group of people, all with...

We were delighted to raise just over £500, while also raising awareness about support available to survivors, and having a great evening out too. Very many thanks to all the...