About Stop it Now!

	Our Aims and Values
	Organisational structure
	People
	Funding

Our Aims and Values

Child sexual abuse is a serious problem affecting large numbers of our children and young people. With help, many abused children can overcome their experiences, but some of them may be profoundly affected for the rest of their lives. The harm caused is preventable - adults who care for children, and even those who harm them, can act now to stop child sexual abuse.

Abuse thrives in an atmosphere of secrecy and taboo. Stop it Now! UK & Ireland is a major national and local campaign that aims to stop child sexual abuse by encouraging abusers and potential abusers to seek help and by giving adults the information they need to protect children effectively.

Stop it Now! believes that sexual abuse is a preventable public health problem and challenges adults to create a society that no longer tolerates the sexual abuse of children.

The goal of Stop it Now! is to protect children and to prevent child sexual abuse. The campaign seeks to achieve this by:

Raising awareness - so that people understand the nature and scale of child sexual abuse; the behaviour of abusers and child victims and the warning signs of a developing potential problem.

Changing attitudes - so that people think differently about child sexual abuse, are more willing to talk about it and to listen to concerns from other adults or children; indeed, so that people see prevention of abuse as a real possibility and their responsibility.

Changing behaviour - so that people take appropriate action to prevent abuse, and seek help if they are worried about themselves or others.

Developing a public health approach - the scale of child sexual abuse requires a large-scale, systematic approach to prevention. The campaigns used to tackle smoking, drink-driving and domestic violence provide evidence that such campaigns are challenging but effective.

The campaign is underpinned by our key values:

Protecting children - Stop it Now! believes that adults can take responsibility for protecting children from child sexual abuse if they understand the nature of the problem and the ways in which abusers operate.

Balancing understanding with accountability - Stop it Now! promotes an understanding of people who sexually abuse children as human beings rather than as the monsters of popular imagination. We believe that, with help, they can choose to stop their behaviour. At the same time they must be held accountable for their actions and the harm they cause.

Working together - Stop it Now! is building strong alliances between voluntary and statutory agencies in the fields of child protection, criminal justice and health. It is also developing vital links with communities and the public in the local project areas.

Stop it Now! UK & Ireland reflects the breakdown of organisational barriers and the trends towards working in partnership and developing the wider social care community whilst ensuring clear lines of responsibility and accountability.

Organisational Structure

It consists of a Director and Administrator who have UK & Ireland wide responsibilities; national and regional managers; local projects each having their own co-ordinator and administrator and the Helpline. Stop it Now! UK & Ireland has an Advisory Council whose primary task is to provide support and advice for the implementation of the campaign's strategic plan.

The Advisory Council is chaired by Baroness Valerie Howarth OBE. The Council is an alliance of voluntary and statutory agencies in the fields of child protection, criminal justice and health. Members of the Council hold senior strategic positions within their respective organisations which include; UK government departments and statutory agencies, children's charities, survivor groups and faith groups. Membership of the Advisory Council is reviewed on an annual basis.

People

The management team at Stop it Now! UK & Ireland bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the campaign and use their skills and expertise to drive and progress the central aims and objectives.

Director - Tink Palmer

Helpline Manager - Simon Sauze

Advisory Council Chair - Valerie Howarth, OBE

Funding

Stop it Now! UK & Ireland campaign is a project of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation: Registered Charity No. 1013025, Registered Company No. 2729957.

The central funding for Stop it Now! UK & Ireland is provided by grants from the Home Office, Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and The Henry Smith Charity.

In order to sustain our work and continue to develop our services, we are pursuing a strategy to extend our funding base through applications to grant-making trusts and other potential funding bodies.

Donations
Like all charities, we have to raise funds to continue and develop and sustain our services such as:

	Developing and providing public education leaflets
	Producing posters and other publicity materials
	Maintaining and extending the Freephone Helpline
	Providing training and speaking to local groups
	Supporting the development of local projects

If you would like to make a donation to Stop it Now! send a cheque made payable to Stop it Now! UK & Ireland to the address below. If you wish to sponsor a particular aspect of Stop it Now's! work i.e. producing publicity materials, development of leaflets, the Helpline, or a particular local project; please specify where you would like your donation to be allocated.

Stop it Now! UK & Ireland
PO Box 9841
Birmingham
B48 7WB

Local projects are funded independently of the Stop it Now! UK & Ireland campaign. The finance for individual projects comes from a variety of sources, but can include relevant organisations within the geographical area in which they operate: for example, Children and Families' Services, Police, Education and Local Safeguarding Children's Boards.

If you require more information about making a donation, sponsorship or funding a local project, please contact the Central Administrator 01527 598184.