How can the Young People Advisor help me

I am a young person who has experienced domestic or sexual abuse. How can the CYP Advisor help me? 

The advisor will contact you and can meet with you either in school, college, at home or anywhere you feel most comfortable and find out what is happening.  They can offer support and advice around how to keep you safe as well as your emotional wellbeing. It is important to understand that you will never be forced to speak to or meet with the young person’s advisor - you are in control of the support you get. The young person’s advisor aims to;

• talk about your needs, worries and concerns.
• explain what different services there are and how they can help.
• talk to other services for you if you want them to.
• try to answer any questions you have and explain the next steps for you whether you decide to speak to the police about what has happened or not.
• You do not need to talk in detail about what has happened if you do not want to. Our aim is to support you in moving forward.
• They can do work with you to support your understanding of certain issues (domestic abuse, bullying, consent etc) to empower you to keep yourself safe and make healthy relationship choices. 

What if I don’t what to report what has happened to me to the police? 

As well as offering emotional support the role of the advisor is also to make sure that you are aware of all the options available to you so that you can make an informed decision about what you want to do in the safest way. Your advisor would never pressure you into making a statement to the police. That is your choice and we can support, whatever you choose. If there were any court proceedings we would be there to support you through that and keep you informed every step of the way as well as making sure you had the support you needed after the whole process was over.

Is what I tell you confidential?

We offer an independent and confidential service. The only time we would ever need to pass information on without your consent would be if we felt that you or someone else was at risk of serious harm. Your advisor would always speak to you about this first. Otherwise, everything you speak to your advisor about is kept completely confidential.