Saint Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) provides a comprehensive and co-ordinated forensic, counselling and aftercare service to men, women and children living in the Greater Manchester and Cheshire area who have experienced rape or sexual assault, whether this has happened recently or in the past.

You can use our services without making a report to the police or we can support you if and when you want to speak to the police

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Services Offered

Counselling

Our team of counsellors have been trained to work with people who have experienced rape, sexual violence and sexual abuse.

We offer counselling to anyone who has experienced rape, sexual abuse or sexual assault. The Centre also offers counselling to "significant others" for example partners or relatives of those who have experienced sexual violence and who may struggle with coming to terms with what has happened to the person they care for. Separate counsellors ensure that all discussions are kept confidential.

Our specialist team of counsellors all work within the British Association of Counselling and Psycholotherapy Ethical Framework.

Initial Assessment

When you first attend Saint Mary's SARC you will have an assessment session. This offers the opportunity of ensuring this is the right service for you and that it will meet your needs. The counsellor will ask you about the feelings you are currently experiencing and ask a number of questions to assess your mood. This will help in evaluating the therapy provided to you.

In some cases the SARC counselling service will be unable to meet your current needs and it is important that we help you to access the appropriate services. We will discuss this with you and with your consent we will refer you to a more appropriate service.

Pre trial therapy

If your case goes to court we are obliged to make the Crown Prosecution Service aware that you have had counselling. You may be asked by the investigating officer for consent for us to release these records. We will contact you and inform you that a request has been made and invite you to go through your counselling records with your counsellor. When you have been made aware of the content of the records and if you give your consent to disclosure, we will give a copy to the courts. Where you do not agree to disclosure we will do whatever we can to prevent disclosure. However, we maybe ordered to show them to the trial judge. We will attend the court and inform the judge of your request for confidentiality. The court Judge will make the decision as to the relevance of your notes in the court case.

Fees and Payment

The counselling at the Centre is free.

Services Offered To:
Adults
Teens

Special Groups:
LGBTQ

Payment:
Pro-bono