Katie Bradshaw appointed new Chair of Darlington and Co. Durham’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre (RSACC)

Northallerton-born Katie Bradshaw has been appointed as RSACC’s new Chair of the Board of Trustees, replacing Dr Andrea Darling who has been in post since 2020.

Katie works for the Civil Service Sports Council as a Volunteer Team Leader. She manages and supports all of the volunteers across the North East and Yorkshire. Prior to that she worked for ten years for a number of charities and non- profit organisations managing their services and volunteers. 

Kate commented:

“I feel incredibly privileged to have been appointed RSACC’s Chair. The services we offer are absolutely vital in bringing an end to rape and sexual violence towards women and girls, never more so than in these present times. Empowering and raising up women and girls should be everyone’s priority and it has always played an important role in my own personal goals and ambitions.”

“Being a feminist, I am extremely passionate about the work that RSACC does, providing a person centred approach to supporting survivors and we are blessed to have such dedicated, specialist and compassionate staff and volunteers. Giving back my time to such an important and worthwhile cause, whilst also being able to spend time with like minded women is something I deeply value and for which I am very grateful.”

RSACC is the specialist charity supporting sexual violence survivors across Darlington and County Durham. It provides a range of free, specialist and tailor-made support for sexual violence survivors. This includes counselling; a telephone Helpline; an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor service; support groups and offers training to professionals to increase awareness of the impact of sexual violence on women and girls.

As well as appointing a new Chair, RSACC is also seeking to recruit some new trustees. They are particularly looking for women with special skills or experience in safeguarding, equality and inclusion, as well as those with a variety of skills in:  

  •  HR
  • Legal
  • Campaigning
  • Charity Governance
  • Conflict resolution
  • Business Development
  • Finance
  • Fundraising
  • PR and Communications
  • Property

Isabel Owens, RSACC’s Deputy CEO, commented:

“First of all I’d like to thank Andrea for the fantastic support she has given as Chair, through what has been a very challenging year during the pandemic. I’m delighted that Katie has agreed to take on this role, we will gain enormously from her extensive voluntary sector experience. And it seems very appropriate that during Trustees Week, we are also looking to recruit some new women to our Board.” 

“Our trustees provide small charities, like RSACC, with an incredible range of skills and experience that are a huge benefit to us. Being a trustee is amazingly rewarding, and not only do we benefit, but trustees can also learn new skills too.”

If you are interested in becoming a RSACC trustee please go to: (https://www.vonne.org.uk/jobs/trustee-9318)