Welcome message from Mary Walsh

Our aim has always been to give children a voice and prepare them for the future.  We are dedicated to helping young people recover from their early emotional injuries at the hands of one or both parents, and recognise that the right combination of love, understanding, appropriate boundaries and therapeutic care is necessary to make this happen.

Established in 1987, our work was initially focused on children who had experienced sexual abuse.  All too often, these young people became lost in a system that ensured their physical safety but failed to really listen to the traumatised child at the heart of the process.  To address this need, we engaged with renowned international practitioners and researchers across the children’s sector, pioneering the creative use of toys, art, books and stories to reach out and understand the child’s reality so that it could be represented in the courts. 

Today SACCS is a leading UK provider of services for children who have been traumatised by abuse and neglect.  In an environment where every aspect of the child is kept safe, teams of practitioners who are expert in their own disciplines deliver this integrated work under the broad headings of Therapeutic Parenting, Life Story and Individual Therapy.

As an organisation, we are also committed to promoting the knowledge and skills of other professionals who hold the welfare of vulnerable children in their hands.  The Mary Walsh Institute at SACCS and its university partners are now embarked on sharing this expertise through a Foundation, Bachelors and Masters Degree in Therapeutic Child Care, together with vocational training and new services in practice consultancy and research.

I trust that the Mary Walsh Institute will provide an opportunity for all of us to consider skills in delivering recovery for traumatised children, and allow us to share our knowledge and expertise through the SACCS Recovery Programme.