SARAC Chief Executive Caroline Fotheringham says its first Peal Ball was “full of love and understanding”.
SARAC, a Burton-based Sexual Abuse and Rape Advice Centre, held its first ever Pearl Ball towards the end of April, bringing the community together and raising an incredible £9,000 for the charity’s work in supporting survivors of sexual abuse and violence.
But this is nowhere near the beginning of the story.
Chief Executive Caroline Fotheringham tells me that the service was formed 32 years ago, in 1994, by a group of local women, after one of them was assaulted and realised “there was no support available. So they set up a helpline from their bedroom.”
Even now, SARAC is made up of a small staff team, and money is often tight – to the extent that last year, “we were on the verge of discussions about closing the service”. It is part-funded by the Ministry of Justice, and “we have to find the rest of the money” to ensure the service remains.
Some cash comes in from national organisations, like The National Lottery and Children in Need, but very little of this can go to SARAC’s core work of one-to-one support.
Perhaps most importantly, Caroline explains that “we cannot afford to invest in a fundraising team”, since “supporting our clients on the floor” is the main priority.
And it’s not like there isn’t a vital need for the service, which receives 300-400 referrals a year (!).
All of this is to stress the significance of the Burton Chamber of Commerce choosing SARAC as its ‘Charity of Choice’ for 2025, giving it a greater platform to talk about the work it does.
The team used this opportunity to host a large fundraising event, at Branston Golf & Country Club, in partnership with the Chamber – eventually landing on the idea of a Pearl Ball because pearl represents 30 years, and because “we wanted to make it different”!
Caroline, who expresses special gratitude for the organisation work put in by SARAC Ambassador Sophie Allen, describes the £9,000 raised as “absolutely immense – we couldn’t believe it”.
We had no expectations as we’ve never done this before. The evening was just fantastic, full of love and understanding.
She adds that it was “powerful” not just to see businesses, other charities and the wider community wanting to “invest their time, effort, money and love”, but also to see survivors present, who have been through the service and are now looking to support it.
Simply talking to a room full of sympathetic ears must have been quite something, too, since Caroline jokes that she can often be the “mood hoover” in the room when discussing the need for the service. But “we have to be having those conversations. If we don’t, we’re not going to stand up to it.”
We should all be talking about sexual violence. We feel quite comfortable talking about other needs in our community, and are a little bit better discussing domestic violence – but not so much sexual violence.
One of the biggest barriers, she says, is getting around the “it won’t happen to me” attitude.
Alongside offering emotional support services for those who have been affected by the traumas caused by sexual abuse and/or rape, SARAC delivers training to local schools, especially on healthy relationships and consent, and is also looking to give training to local businesses.
The charity is looking to recruit new volunteers and is willing to discuss a range of possibilities. “An hour of month,” or even just a cake bake at home, could go a long way to support its work.
As for the possibility of another Ball-like event, Caroline jokes: “If you’d have asked me on the Friday after the event… absolutely not! Saturday, same again – I was exhausted. I didn’t know what was going on.”
But by Monday, after she was greeted at work by “an influx of ‘thank you’ and ‘well done’ mess”ages”, she confirmed that “we are now looking to do it again, because it is all about our clients”!
If you would like to get involved in the important work carried out by SARAC, visit their website: www.sarac.org.uk.
If you are affected by any of the issues discussed in this article, you can get in touch with SARAC by visiting their website, www.sarac.org.uk, or by calling their confidential helpline: 01283 517 185.