A woman who suffered more than ten years of childhood abuse is raising Christmas cash to help fellow survivors of abuse.
Elizabeth Wood, 68, of Bayston Hill, near Shrewsbury, has again opened a unit in Shrewsbury’s busy Pride Hill Shopping Centre to sell donated items of exclusive knitwear with the proceeds going to support the work of a counselling charity.
Her team of ‘knitting nanas’ have had their needles clicking for months to make a fantastic array of home produced woollens.
Last year the Pride Hill shop raised morfe than £4,000 for Axis Counselling and Psychotherapy provides help for the victims of childhood abuse and Elizabeth herself is among those with a reason to be grateful to the charity.
She has her own very personal reasons for raising funds for them after she received much needed help from Axis’s specially trained counsellors.
She said: “Yes I was sexually abused as a child. I don’t mind talking about it publicly if it helps people understand.
“In my case it started when I was a toddler and continued until I was around 14 and could fight back. My abuser was a close family member, it doesn’t matter who as he’s now dead.
“I kept the abuse a secret, hidden away, I never talked about it and couldn’t, at least not with my own family. It ruined my life and inside it gnawed away at me, I thought about it every day. Was it my fault? Was I the one to blame?
“That went on for years until I suffered a massive breakdown and ended up in a psychiatric hospital. When my family eventually knew they blamed me and wouldn’t believe what had happened. It split my family apart.
“When he died I felt relief, I was glad and happy in a way but I also felt cheated out of justice. My abuser never appeared before a court. He was never charged, not even arrested.”
And Elizabeth says there are many more victims like her that need help and counselling.
She said: “Look at the Jimmy Savile enquiry that is going on now. It takes just one victim to come out and the rest follow. The problem is you keep it all in, hidden away. You are too terrified to talk about it.
“But believe me you need to get it out and to share the burden. It took me six months before I could trust my counsellor but the relief when I realised I really did have someone to confide in, someone I could trust. It was simply wonderful. I had a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.”
“Axis is a hugely important charity that is helping adult victims, not only of child sexual abuse but physical and emotional abuse too.
“The service allows victims to access appropriate professional help in the Shropshire and Telford and the Wrekin area.
“And believe me, there are far more victims out there in need of help than you could ever imagine. So many people that now need answers, help and professional counselling.”
Elizabeth, who eventually married and has three grown up children of her own, says her temporary pop-up shop sells all types of handmade knitwear.
She said: “I have a team of ladies from around the Shrewsbury area that knit all year-round. We have baby clothes, children’s jumpers, adult knitwear, hats, gloves, tea cosies, scarves, just about anything. I hand at out the wool and patterns and leave it to the ladies to come up with the goods.
“I have to say we couldn’t do it without the help and support of the Shrewsburyu Shopping management team who always manage to accommodate us somewhere.
“This is my 12th, and possibly, last year. I am hoping to beat last year’s total of £4,500 that we raised.
“The pop-up shop is only open for a few weeks so I hope lots of shoppers and visitors come in and see us at Unit K10 on the ground floor of Pride Hill.”
Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: “This is something that is very much in the news and it is very brave of Elizabeth to speak out the way she has done.
“The work she and her team of knitters do is fantastic and the cause they support is a very worthy one and we’re glad to be able to help.”
For more information on Axis and it’s counselling service visit www.axis-counselling.co.uk
Alternatively, to make an appointment at Axis Counselling, Fletcher House, 15 College Hill, Shrewsbury SY1 1LY call 01743 357777 or to make an appointment at Axis Counselling, Jubilee House, 74 High Street, Madeley, Telford TF7 5AH call 01952 278000.
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