Our history
The Rape Counselling and Resource Centre (RCRC) was founded in the autumn of 1987 by Sandra Osborne, a Development Worker at Kilmarnock Women’s Aid who identified that a lot of women were disclosing that they had survived sexual violence. At the time Women’s Aid, offered practical, immediate help for woman fleeing domestic abuse, so Sandra instituted the RCRC to offer emotional and practical support over a longer period for survivors of sexual violence.
Originally, RCRC reliant on voluntary contributions and the occasional small grant. This meant that facilities at the centre were pretty spartan – one volunteers desk was constructed out of milk crates! However, in the mid-1990s the constitution for a new Scottish Rape Crisis Network was drafted and approved by the Inland Revenue. This later became Rape Crisis Scotland with a national office funded by the Scottish Government.
This consistent funding allowed RCRC to continue to expand and grow, including changing the name of the Centre in 2017, as survivors - particularly young survivors - felt that having ‘rape’ in the title was off-putting. Moreover, some survivors didn’t receive support because they had ‘only’ been sexually assaulted and therefore, had never reached out.
Thus, the new name The STAR Centre, which stands for Surviving, Thriving, And Recovering was democratically selected by both staff and survivors. In the 37 years since our services’ inception, The STAR Centre has supported thousands of survivors of sexual violence across the whole of Ayrshire, including the Isles of Arran and Great Cumbrae. We opened our services to all who need them and strive to educate on sex, consent, and healthy relationships to help end the perpetuation of sexual violence.
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