A Birchington mum’s video aimed at raising awareness of a child sexual abuse support group has gone viral with more than 17,000 views.
Sarah Miller said she made the video “in the heat of the moment” in the hope that it would help other people find the Rise support page.
Rise is one of the only support groups for victims of childhood sexual abuse on the isle.
Sarah, 37, said she found the site after contacting another person who had gone public with their story.
She said: “I wasn’t directed to it by the police and it is like no-one knows the group is there. I had gone through hell and lost so much weight someone I spoke to said they thought I had cancer.
“The group offers help and support from other survivors. You can walk in the room and know that no-one is going to judge you.”
The meetings are held on a regular basis in Thanet but survivors need to contact Rise for details. The Rise facebook page can be found here.
Since Sarah made her video at the end of October four people have made contact with the group and others have contacted her personally. Sarah has directed these people to the group as well.
She said: “ I’ve had so many messages from victims locally and even a little further afield who never knew this group existed.”
Sarah, who has given consent to publicising her video, says she also received a huge amount of support from Birchington Medical Centre staff member Stephanie Reed. She said: “She was amazing, I can’t thank her enough.”
Despite dealing with her own past she says she is glad the video has had such wide reach. The mum-of-two said: “If it can help even just one person who has nowhere else to go then I am glad.”
Find the Rise Kent website here http://www.risekent.org/
Find the group on facebook here