The vision of Conforto was first birthed when our Founder, Sarah Aston, recognised that there was a great need to support and empower survivors of sexual abuse. After working for two separate charities and leading a church with her husband, she saw that there was a specific need for a safe space and tailored support for females who had experienced sexual violence.

 

God gave Sarah the name Conforto – which is latin for Comfort. ‘Con’ means to comfort and soothe, ‘forto’ comes from the word fortress which means to strengthen and fortify. At the start of 2019, along with 6 other likeminded people, the start of Conforto was created with the aim to offer a year-long retreat where females can focus on their restoration by being loved, comforted and empowered, regardless of when the abuse happened.

 

We applied for charitable status on the 1st June 2019 and are currently waiting to become registered. At the moment, we are meeting as a board of Trustees to discuss exciting plans such as what the retreat will encompass, how the programme will look and potential properties. We have also had the privilege of meeting with the Founders and CEOs of various charities with similar aims to ours and are enjoying learning from those who have gone before us and the things they have learnt.

 

Although experienced in the area of supporting vulnerable females, we are currently raising funds to be able to send Sarah on an accredited Independent Sexual Violence Advisor course to become Conforto’s first accredited ISVA. Any overflowing funds will be used to train and equip other team members.

​

Watch this space for any further progress and exciting news!