Get Support
you don't have to handle this on your own
Support at your pace, not ours
If you’ve been affected by grooming or sexual exploitation, you may already have spent years dealing with systems, appointments, and people asking you to explain yourself. This isn’t that.
The Survivors isn’t here to assess you or fix you. We’re here to offer connection, steadiness, and spaces where you don’t have to justify what you’ve lived through.
Support here is simple and human. You come as you are. You take part as much or as little as you want.
What support looks like
Support doesn’t start with forms or interviews. It starts with being around people who understand. For many survivors, the most helpful thing isn’t advice or intervention. It’s being in a room, or an online space, where you don’t have to explain the basics of what happened to you.
Some people talk. Others sit quietly. Some come regularly. Others check in occasionally. There’s no right way to do it.
We focus on creating environments that feel safe, respectful, and unhurried, so that connection can happen naturally.
You set the pace.
An art and nature-based approach
Not everyone wants to process experiences through conversation alone. Many people find it easier to settle their nervous system and reconnect with themselves through practical, creative, or outdoor activities. That’s why our local groups are built around gentle, shared experiences rather than formal therapy sessions.
This might include things like making art, walking together, spending time outdoors, or working with simple creative materials.
These activities aren’t designed to analyse or diagnose. They’re there to create calm, build trust, and give people space to breathe. Talking can happen if it wants to, but it isn’t required.
The aim is to support recovery in ways that feel natural rather than clinical.
What this looks like in practice
Last year we ran a small pilot weekend retreat for survivors, focused on art, time outdoors, shared meals, and simple companionship rather than formal therapy. The aim was to create a calm, steady environment where people could rest, reconnect, and be around others who understood, without pressure to talk or perform recovery.
The weekend confirmed what many survivors already tell us: that safety, creativity, and gentle connection can be more helpful than structured interventions.
If you’d like to read a short report about what we learned, you can find it here.
Local support groups
We are building small, local groups so survivors can connect with others nearby, in person, at their own pace. Each group is shaped by the people in it and supported by trained facilitators. They are not treatment programmes or structured courses. They are steady, community spaces.
Right now, we are in the early stages of setting these up. That means some areas will have groups sooner than others. If there isn’t one near you yet, you can still join our online community and register your interest by clicking the button below. This helps us understand where support is most needed and where to focus next.
We would rather grow carefully and do this well than move quickly and get it wrong.
If you need immediate help
If you feel unsafe right now or need urgent support, you don’t have to wait for us.
Emergency and urgent support
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999 – Emergency services
If you or someone else is in immediate danger
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NHS 111
Urgent health advice when it’s not an emergency
These services are available 24 hours a day.
Mental health hotlines and textlines
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Samaritans – 116 123
Emotional support for distress and suicidal feelings
Available 24 hours a day
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Mind – 0300 102 1234
A safe space for you to talk about your mental health
Open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (except bank holidays).
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SANEline – 0300 304 7000
If you're experiencing a mental health problem or supporting someone else who is.
Open 4:30pm to 10pm every day
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National Suicide Prevention – 0800 587 0800 / 0800 689 0880
Offers a supportive listening service to anyone with thoughts of suicide.
Open 6pm to midnight every day
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Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) – 0800 58 58 58
Offers support for those affected by suicide or suicidal thoughts
Open 5pm to midnight every day
You can also talk to CALM via webchat and whatsapp.
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Shout
If you prefer not to talk, you can text SHOUT to 85258
The confidential text service offers support to those in crisis.
Available 24/7
We include these numbers not to alarm you, but to make sure you have options if you need immediate help.