Lily’s story: It was really helpful having the support right there

I found it really helpful having an official person there to talk to about things that came up – court was a horrible retraumatising thing and it was really helpful having the support right there as it can be really hard to reach out during this hard time…she reminded me of my strengths and of how far I’ve come already. It was also really helpful having the support before and after the trial too – it made me feel less alone in it and helped me remember that there is help out there, especially when everything brought up again keeps echoing through your mind for weeks after it. When you’ve gone through something like this, you struggle to trust yourself to trust others – the service I received not only made me feel safe but also gave me a safe place to let out all the haunting details I still keep to myself.