We are UpFront Survivors
Child sexual abuse survivor artists and activists, front line sexual violence services and researchers supporting the CSA survivor community to be upfront - to speak out and step into cultural leadership.
Child sexual abuse survivor artists and activists, front line sexual violence services and researchers supporting the CSA survivor community to be upfront - to speak out and step into cultural leadership.
The project:
UpFront Survivors is about our community leading cultural change through creating visible survivor-led community spaces and experiences. We are doing this in partnership with frontline services and researchers to work towards effective, holistic, sustainable support.
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CSA survivors lack cultural representation as our experiences are hidden and taboo. We live with ongoing silencing and censorship, and many of us are not able to safely self-identify or speak out about our experiences.
Most of us have never met another survivor, so do not feel part of a community. We want to connect with each other and take up space. Now in its second year, UpFront Survivors, will deliver CSA survivor led programmes in Leeds. To find out more about UpFront Survivors contact upfrontsurvivors@sarsas.org.uk. |
'Lego Superheroes' workshop. Creative Leaders Training 2023.
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UpFront Survivors has four interacting strands:
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1) Finding the Words – creative workshops designed and delivered by CSA survivor artists for CSA survivors.
Previous workshops have been led by Clare Shaw, Jemima Foxtrot and Viv Gordon. Check back here for the latest workshop information. |
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2) National Creative Social Change Network – a space for adult CSA survivor artists, activists and changemakers to get together, connect and collaborate. 17:00 - 19:00 BST | every third Wednesday | Online | two paid speaker slots available for each meeting |
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3) Creative Leaders Training – training and mentoring for emerging CSA survivor creatives. Trainees are supported to take their next steps into cultural leadership. |
The South West cohort of emerging Creative Leaders have completed their training in 2023, and we have just gathered a new cohort of amazing creatives, based in and around Leeds, to work with in 2024. Here's what some of the first cohort had to say: |
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"Week by week, the tools and skills demonstrated, together with the team and the experienced, safe approach they adopted allowed me to thoroughly embrace the course. This gave me the courage, conviction and self belief to take the leap, trust my heart and follow my intuitive career plans." - Former trainee
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"This is the most accepting, genuinely safe space I have ever been in. I tic and dissociate and so I normally only manage small amount of times in groups - I worry I'm too much! The group held everyone in such a way that I am so much happier just being me." - Former trainee
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4) Pop-up Cultural Spaces – a series of co-created and co-produced community spaces for CSA survivors and allies to gather, be creative and make change. Our next pop-up event will happen in March 2024 in Leeds. |
The first pop-up cultural space for our community coincided with the launch of the ABC of CSA project in Exeter in February 2023, followed by the launch of the UpFront Survivors project at The People’s Republic of Stokes Croft CIC in Bristol in March 2023 (see videos below). |
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UpFront Survivors is funded through the Home Office Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (SVSCSA) Fund 2022/25.
Developed and delivered in partnership with
Developed and delivered in partnership with
