My Story

TW: child sexual abuse

For the last 10 weeks, I have been training to participate in the Warwick Half Marathon, taking place on 4th February 2024. I would like to dedicate the run to raising funds for CRASAC - Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre - which provides specialist support for adults and children in Coventry who have been impacted by sexual violence or abuse at any time in their lives. 

One in four girls and one in six boys will experience childhood sexual abuse, which means chances are you probably know more people than you realise who are part of this statistic. I was 3 years old when I first remember being sexually abused by a close family member. It has taken me almost 2 decades to come to terms with what had happened to me and to finally seek counselling to help me overcome the trauma experienced due to what happened during my childhood. 

Before receiving support from CRASAC my mental health was at an all-time low. I had begun to develop symptoms of delayed PTSD: vivid recollections, flashbacks, nightmares and the inability to sleep or stay asleep. This was all taking place during my final year of university when I had exams to prepare for, an entire dissertation to write (I’m still not sure how I managed to write that in under 2 weeks) and was supposed to be enjoying some of the best years of my life. Although I had reached out to my University for support they were only able to offer me 6 sessions of counselling, which I came out worse from as it opened the wound up and then left me to deal with the pain alone.

CRASAC provided me with up to 26 weeks of one-to-one counselling (I decided I didn’t need the full term but it was there if I did), group therapy sessions which covered topics such as nightmares, low mood and depression, anxiety and flashbacks and an ISVA (independent sexual violence adviser) in case I decided I wanted to go down the route of reporting what had happened to me to the police. These services were all provided to me for free. Without them, I am sure I would still be struggling today. 

So I will be running this half marathon not only for who I am today but for the 3 year old me who didn’t know what was happening and why one of the people I loved the most would hurt me like that. I am running it for the 10 year old me who used to run every Friday lunchtime and dreamed of one day running as far as a half marathon. I am running it for all the future girls, boys, women and men who will receive support from CRASAC. Finally, I am running it for everyone who can relate to this post but is too afraid to speak up and reach out to receive help. I promise you, it is never too late.

I would love to raise £1000 as this is roughly how much it cost CRASAC to provide me with the one to one counselling sessions and that money can go towards funding someone else’s counselling journey. Please consider donating, the link will either be at the bottom of this post or in my bio depending on what platform you’re reading this on. The work CRASAC do is truly life-changing, as I’ve learnt first-hand. And if you are suffering in silence, please reach out for support. There are charities nationwide which can provide you with the support and care you need.

And to end on a lighter note, I’ll be offering you the chance to choose some of the songs I’ll be listening to during my half marathon in exchange for a donation! The song/s must be available on Spotify 😊

1 song = £5

3 songs = £10

10 songs = £20 (best value 😉)

Thank you 🩷