I am 83 years old and this is the first time I've told anyone about the abuse I suffered as a child. Thank you for allowing me to share the burden of those painful memories. 
News 2004
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NAPAC in The Independent 28/12/04
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NAPAC debate in the House of Commons 21/12/04
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Paedophile priests dismissed by the Pope 16/12/04
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New rules on anti-depressants for GPs 05/12/04
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NAPAC fundraising day a success! 05/12/04
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Interview on corporal punishment 11/10/04
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NAPAC in the media 09/09/04
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NAPAC fundraising 28/08/04
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NAPAC mentioned on Channel 4 26/08/04
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Peter Saunders on The World Tonight 17/08/04
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NAPAC in the media 30/07/04
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Fair treatment for self-harmers sought by NICE 29/07/04
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Fashion show dedicated to abuse survivors 24/07/04
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Peers agree a compromise on child smacking ban 05/07/04
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Peter Saunders on Radio 4 23/06/04
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NAPAC at The Body Shop Foundation AGM 23/06/04
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Paedophiles to have credit cards withdrawn 09/06/04
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NAPAC in the media 08/06/04
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BT to block "child porn" sites 07/06/04
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NAPAC in the media 06/06/04
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NAPAC in the media 05/06/04
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March and Rally against Child Sexual Abuse 30/05/04
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Appeal for funds 11/05/04
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Sisters of Mercy apologise 07/05/04
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NAPAC in the media 07/05/04
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Downing Street reception 30/04/04
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Website statistics 28/04/04
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NAPAC at the Glades 24/04/04
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BACP Journal 23/04/04
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New NAPAC leaflet 20/04/04
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NAPAC Newsletter out now 26/03/2004
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NAPAC in the media 16/03/2004
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NAPAC in the media 07/03/2004
NAPAC is mentioned in an article about forgiveness on page 8 of 'The Review' in today's Independent.
Tom Cox, MP for Tooting, initiated a debate with MP for Welwyn Hatfield, Melanie Johnson, on behalf of NAPAC in parliament. The title of the debate was 'Government support for adults abused in childhood'.
Click here for a full transcript of the debate. We would very much like to hear about what you thought of the debate. Please send your responses to us here.
Tom Cox talked about the work that NAPAC does and how the charity requires urgent funding in order for the line to begin running again. He urged Melanie Johnson to meet with him in early New Year to discuss the possibility of further government funding.
Melanie Johnson outlined the work that the government does for victims of violence and abuse, and said she hoped that NAPAC would be part of the development of future national telephone services. She declined to meet with Tom Cox.
Two Catholic priests from the Republic of Ireland who have been found guilty of child sex abuse have been sacked directly by the Pope.
More on this news from the BBC.
NICE have issued guidelines for the NHS on the treatment of people with anxiety and depression. It thinks that GPs need to be more cautious about prescribing SSRI's, and that advice on possible withdrawal effects from them need to be stressed.
More on this from the BBC.
Nine NAPAC volunteers spent the day fundraising at Victoria station yesterday. They received a lot of positive feedback throughout the day. They raised almost £300!
Thank you to everyone who helped out.
Peter Saunders was interviewed today as part of a TV programme on the violence carried out at school in the 20th century. Rik Mayall asked about Pete's experience in state schools. The programme will be aired in February 2005.
Peter Saunders' comments on the proposition of hostels for sex offenders are featured on the BBC website. Click Click here for more information.
NAPAC had a collection at Oxford Street tube station and raised just under £300. Thank you all very much for your hard work - Pete, Jayne, Dennis, Paul, Geoff and Katie.
NAPAC was mentioned on the Channel 4 documentary 'Edge of the City' which featured a section on the grooming and abuse of school children in and around Bradford.
NAPAC and an interview with Peter was featured on The World Tonight on Radio 4 on Tuesday at 10pm.
The report was on allegations of abuse within the Roman Catholic Church, recommendations by Lord Nolan and the work that COPCA (the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults) which advises the Church on best practice in the field, co-ordinatses the development of policies and procedures on the prevention of abuse, and the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
NAPAC was featured in a full page spread this week in the Ipswich Evening Star. Pete Saunders was also quoted in their Editorial.
According to new NHS guidelines, people who self-harm should receive the same levels of care and respect as other patients.
Around 170,000 patients are admitted to casualty departments each year after injuring or attempting to poison themselves, according to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
NICE set out how ambulance personnel, GPs and A&E staff should respond to distressed patients who have inflicted self-harm within the previous 48 hours. Non-clinical staff should also be trained in how to respond to self-harmers, almost half of whom currently receive no follow-up care or psychological assessment. More about this from the BBC.
Corrie Nielson's end of year fashion show at Central St. Martin's last month was dedicated to survivors of child abuse. Corrie visited NAPAC many months ago to draw some inspiration on her theme.
This article is reprinted with the kind permission of the Evening Standard. The leather brogues mentioned in the piece were actually children's shoes.
The attempt to outlaw smacking of children has failed in the House of Lords. Instead, the Upper House chose today for a government-backed compromise crafted by Liberal Democrat Lord Lester, in which peers voted to allow "mild smacking". More from the BBC.
Peter Saunders took part in a discussion about whether or not hitting children is a useful disciplinary tool for parents on Radio 4's Moral Maze. Michael Gove, Claire Fox, Steven Rose and Ian Hargreaves quizzed experts for and against.
Peter
Saunders and Laura Gordon went to Littlehampton to represent NAPAC at The
Body Shop Foundation's AGM. The purpose of the Foundation is to give financial
support to front line organisations.
The day was a great success. Thank you to all the staff at The Body Shop who made us feel so welcome, and for the support you have given us.
Paedophiles who use their credit cards to gain access to websites featuring child abuse images risk having their credit cards withdrawn. National Crime Squad Assistant Chief Constable Jim Gamble said that the UK police were working with banks and credit reference agencies on procedures to blacklist offenders. More on this story here.
NAPAC is featured in today's Dear Deidre agony column in The Sun.
British Telecommunications today said that it plans to block its 2.7 million internet subscribers from reaching "child pornography" websites banned under British law.
The computer system, named Cleanfeed should be up and running in the next few weeks, retail chief executive Pierre Danon said.
Attempts to reach the sites will result in a "page not found" error message. BT said it will not see details of people trying to reach the sites, or of the sites themselves.
More on this story from Reuters.
NAPAC is featured in the Mail on Sunday, You magazine in Zelda West-Meads' advice section.
NAPAC is featured in a full page spread in today's Bromley Times, Kentish Times, and Orpington Times.
The Annual March and Rally against Child Sexual Abuse will be taking place again on 9th October 2004.
Please spread the word to everyone you know and think of other ways you can help them to make people notice.
This year, Shelley and her brave crew at STEP UP (Support To Empower Parents Under Pressure) will be taking on the main role of organising the March and Rally.
They need your support to help them to set this day up, so if you can offer support, in any way, please call 020 8500 4914 and leave a message in the answerphone if they're not there.
Unfortunately, because of a shortage of money, we are having to cut our info-line opening hours from 8 to 4 hours a day. Please help us to continue our valuable work by making a donation to NAPAC.
The Irish order of Roman Catholic nuns, the Sisters of Mercy, today stated that they accepted "unreservedly that many ... who spent ... childhoods in Orphanages/Industrial schools run by the congregation were hurt and damaged while in ... care". They continue: "without reservation we apologise unconditionally to each one of you for the suffering we have caused".
More information in this article from BBC news.
NAPAC is featured in today's Dear Deidre agony column in The Sun.
Peter Saunders attended a reception at Downing Street on 28th April 2004. It turned out to be a most interesting evening and from a NAPAC point of view, highly productive. Peter chatted at some length with Ministers of State and whilst he is minded that ministerial decisions are rarely taken over copious glasses of wine at the PM's house, it was clear that there is a lot of support for NAPAC and a keen willingness to hear about our work.
The really big question: When will some more funding follow? The answer to that is, "Watch this space". Another bit of really good news to come out of the evening is that a Home Office Minister will be visiting our Info Line team in Manchester soon!
Asked what he thought about his evening with the Prime Minister and Mrs Blair, Peter said, "It was quite surreal. I felt very excited about going and I really had to pinch myself to see whether it was really happening. It's not everyday you get to rub shoulders with government ministers and to crack a joke with Tony Blair - and I really did!"
According to a new report from Web Trends, NAPAC is now getting over 1,300 visitors to the site per month, with the number increasing significantly when we are mentioned in the press. Many people who view the site for the first time are returning every month to keep up with NAPAC news.
NAPAC volunteers spent the day at the Glades shopping centre in Bromley to raise awareness and funds.
The day was a great success, we gave out 1,200 leaflets and raised over £200. NAPAC will soon be moving to Bromley, and this was a good step toward making links with the local community.
A big thank you to Ken, Julian, Geoff, Jools and Jon for all the help that you gave us in giving out leaflets and raising money.
NAPAC is mentioned in this month's BACP journal, which features counselling for survivors of sexual abuse.
NAPAC has a new leaflet available for download here.
The spring Newsletter is avaliable to read online in the publications section. It will be posted out to friends of NAPAC shortly.
Peter Saunders was on Sky News (Live TV), commenting that the sentencing of eleven years (to serve seven) of Steven King was very lenient given the magnitude of the crimes . Peter was also quoted on the radio station LBC.
NAPAC was mentioned in in The Sun on Saturday and in the Sunday's News of the World. The result was 350 calls to the line that week!
