Oxfordshire charity rebrands in effort to improve accessibility
Survivor Space Oxfordshire was previously known as Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre
Last updated 28th Sep 2024
A charity in Oxfordshire has rebranded, in a bid to become more accessible and increase its reach.
Survivor Space Oxfordshire supports survivors of sexual violence, ranging from one-to-one counselling to "innovative" group work.
Advisors can also go to police stations with survivors, and explain legal processes.
But, the charity's old name, 'Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre', had a "multitude of problems," according to its chief executive.
CEO Lauren Kendall added: "It contained the acronym SARC and we're not a SARC a forensic service often provided by the NHS. We're not a crisis centre, so it was tricky with referrals sometimes.
"Rape and sexual abuse can be quite a triggering word for some people, including people that might have wanted to use our services."
She explained that sometimes organisations would not want to collaborate with the charity: "We had team members with our old name and logo on a T-shirt for instance, at an event people would quite often give us a strange look or not want to talk to us.
"Some feedback we had from people was that they wouldn't really feel comfortable having that logo on their website or promoting the charity in that way. So it's really for us about being a more positive and empowering brand that people feel more comfortable with."
Hits Radio was told demand for the charity's services is "continuing to increase," which comes after the home secretary pledged to tackle violence against women and girls as a "national emergency."
"What we really need is more funding and more support for the work that we're doing," Ms Kendall responded, adding: "It'll be interesting to see how it pans out. I also know that everyone keeps saying that there's still no more money."
The charity is holding a rebrand launch event at the Westgate Oxford today (Saturday 28th September).