Blackburn Wish Centre: ‘My ex-partner burnt me with boiling water’

Ms Crawford, who has since been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD), has seen a counsellor and said that help changed things forever.

“I’ve always said the Wish Centre saved my life,” she said.

“If they weren’t here for me then I wouldn’t be here.”

Wish said there had been a sharp increase in demand for its services since 2018.

The centre was set up in 1988 for women in the borough and in 2014 extended its offering to also include male victims and perpetrators.

The charity is using a National Lottery grant to employ a counselling co-ordinator, mental health independent domestic violence advocate (IDVA) and a wellbeing practitioner.

The roles are all based in the Blackburn centre, which training manager Rebekah Wilson feels is important.

She said: “[Survivors] are already in a safe space.

“The natural progression to a Wish counsellor is very comfortable, or it’s more comfortable than it could be had they been referred in to another service.

“I think they trust us by that stage.”

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