Come Forward, we’re here to help
People who have experienced in-care abuse and neglect are being urged to come forward and register for ‘Future Pathways,’ the new name for Scotland’s In Care Survivor Support Fund, which has been chosen by survivors.
Over 160 survivors across Scotland and beyond have already received vital help and support via Future Pathways since it officially opened in September 2016. Originally known as the In Care Survivor Support Fund, the Future Pathways team have been working closely with survivors to create a new name and logo which reflect a focus on supporting people to move forward with their lives.
Head of Future Pathways Flora Henderson said: “We are extremely grateful to everyone who helped us choose our new name and logo, which we are confident reflects our work in helping people who’ve experienced abuse or neglect in care to find their own pathway to a positive future.
“Over 160 survivors have already registered with us, but we know there are many, many more people out there who have had similar experiences and who could really benefit from our help and support.
She added: “We want to use this announcement as an opportunity to encourage survivors to come forward and access support them to lead happy, healthy and independent lives.”
Future Pathways works with survivors to identify the right support for them, and the types of support that have been provided so far include: access to education and work, psychological trauma support, access to personal record, and housing and benefit advice, access to health and wellbeing support.
John Swinney MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills said: “I am delighted that Future Pathways have been engaging with survivors in the development and launch of their new branding and website. I am looking forward to hearing more about the implementation of the Fund and the difference it is making to survivors. “
Positive feedback has already been received from many survivors who have registered with Future Pathways.
David Whelan, spokesperson for FBGA (Former Boys and Girls Abused in Quarriers Homes) said: “Former residents of institutional abuse were seeking additional support and help as there were real gaps in current services and their needs were not always met. FBGA along with other victim-survivors campaigned for such an integrated one-stop survivor centred service for many years.
“Victims-survivors in conjunction with the Scottish Government and others also helped shaped, form and design Future Pathways, and the feedback from service users to date has been overwhelmingly positive.
“FBGA as a victim-survivor campaign group fully support Future Pathways in understanding the needs of those abused in the past care system and have no hesitation in referring former residents to the service. We recommend the service to everyone and thank Future Pathways for delivering a high quality victim-survivor centred service to those in need.”
Andrew Kendrick, Professor of Residential Child Care at Strathclyde University and Chair of the Inter Action Review Group said: “I am really pleased to see that one of the key elements of the InterAction Plan, providing support services to survivors of in-care abuse, is coming to life through this new brand and identity. I am also pleased that survivors have been involved in this, as they have throughout the development of the service.”
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Notes to editors
- To access video and/or audio clips of some survivors who have accessed support through Future Pathways, or to arrange interviews with members of the Future Pathways team, please contact Anne Hunter, Communications and Engagement Manager on 0141 465 9228 / 0770 256 5847 or email hunter@future-pathways.co.uk
- Future Pathways has been established to support those who were abused or neglected as children while they were living in care in Scotland. It is supported by funding from the Scottish Government and is managed by a consortium of organisations that have formed the In Care Survivor Support Fund Alliance to administer and oversee the Fund.
- The Scottish Government asked the Scottish Human Rights Commission to work with survivors of in-care abuse to tell them how they could best be supported. This was called the InterAction process and Ministers accepted the group’s recommendations on a number of key areas – to establish an independent public inquiry into the abuse of children in care; establish a national support fund; support an Apology Law; make testimony from the National Confidential Forum part of the national record, remove the time-bar limitation on bringing civil suits in cases of childhood abuse and a review of lessons learned from previous inquiries into the care of children.
- ‘In care’ includes living in residential or foster care; living in a boarding school (state, private or independent); having a long-term stay in hospital or time spent in a Young Offender’s Institution
- If the Survivor no longer lives in Scotland, they may still access Future Pathways, regardless of their age or when the abuse took place.
- For further information go to future-pathways.co.uk
