National Emergency Alert System
Emergency Alerts is a new mobile phone service being trialled by the UK government.
If you’re a survivor of domestic abuse with an undisclosed or secondary phone the government’s new emergency alert could reveal your phone, even if it’s on silent.
The emergency alerts will work like a radio broadcast. In an emergency, mobile phone masts in the affected area will broadcast an alert. EVERY compatible mobile phone or tablet in range of the mast will receive the alert.
An emergency alert will look and sound different to other types of mobile phone messages. When you receive an emergency alert you will hear a loud noise like a siren and your phone will use a distinct vibration and a message will appear on your screen. The sound and vibration will last for approximately 10 seconds. You will hear the alert even if your mobile or device is switched to silent. You will not get an alert if your device is switched off or on aeroplane mode.
The UK trial will launch in March 2023 and will run until the end of June 2023 and in Scotland alerts will only be issued for very severe weather emergencies.
There will be a test alert message sent out on Sunday 23 April 2023. This message will be clearly marked as a test and no further action will be need other than to switch the alert off.
If you are worried the Emergency Alerts will put you at risk, it is possible to opt out of receiving the emergency alerts.
To opt out and switch the emergency alerts off:
- Access your settings menu on your mobile or tablet
- Inside the settings menu there will be a Notifications menu
- In the Notifications menu there will be an option to switch ‘Emergency Alerts’ off and ‘Severe Alerts’ off.
For further help on switching these alerts off please download our guidance for both iPhone and Android devices which can be found on the link below.
FRASAC and KASP's Winter Newsletter
This Winter, jointly with KASP (Kingdom Abuse Survivors Project) we are delighted to share with you our newest edition of our Newsletter.
Our latest edition includes:
- An informative article written by Jane Watt, Locality Manager, Victim Support Scotland regarding the Victim Support Scotland Emergency Assistance Fund.
- FRASAC & 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.
- An update on Volunteering in FRASAC.
- And information about the National Advocacy Project (NAP).
This edition will also keep you updated with what has been happening in FRASAC, Our new Board of Directors and our staff changes.
If you would like to join the mailing list for our newsletter or would like to feature in our next edition, please get in contact with us at info@frasac.org.uk marking your email FOA Niki.
Our newsletter can be viewed below via Sway:
Celebrating our 21st Birthday!
Our 21st Birthday!
From the late 90's there had been interest and discussion around the need for a Rape and Sexual Assault Service in Fife. A group of agencies including Women's Aid, KASP, Fife Council, Abuse Not (now Safe Space) and Fife College came together with a view to create a sexual abuse forum and the first piece of work to come from this was the facilitation of FRASAC. In 2002 FRASAC was registered as a charity and actively applying for funding.
Fast forward to 2023, FRASAC now have 23 staff members and 15 volunteers and work over two office locations both in Kirkcaldy. We provide as well as our Core Service: Crisis and Early Intervention Service, Advocacy Service, Prevention Service and a Young Peoples Service. For more info on the services we provide, please check out our Services page on our website.
FRASAC, on average support 300 clients per month and our average waiting time for support currently standing at 24 days however this can be longer depending on factors such as client availability etc.
We are incredibly proud to be celebrating such a fantastic milestone and to be able to still provide support and advice to the people of Fife who have been affected by sexual violence.
Update on Volunteering at FRASAC
Volunteering with FRASAC gives our volunteers the opportunity to be part of this specialised service helping to support the survivors of sexual abuse in Fife.
We have 14 new volunteers joining FRASAC in the coming months, 6 of them joining the centre this week.
All volunteers joining us have successfully completed our FRASAC in-house training with courses and topics covered such as:
- What is Gender Based Violence?
- Rape and Sexual Assault
- Childhood Sexual Abuse
- Ritual Abuse
- Trauma
An increase in volunteers helps to reduce our waiting list meaning clients do not have to wait so long before engaging with one of our support workers. Working with volunteers greatly compliments FRASAC and the support we provide.
Volunteers support FRASAC by giving their time freely with no financial gain and this is because they truly believe in and feel passionate about supporting survivors which is such a benefit to FRASAC.
Volunteering is an amazing opportunity as volunteers take part in our in-house training which is great for personal development and adding to their knowledge, background and skill set.
We are happy to welcome and encourage volunteers from all genders and backgrounds to join our team. We also offer different times including evenings which allows volunteers who otherwise could not have volunteered in the normal 9-5 day. This is extremely beneficial as gives our clients the opportunity to be supported out with the normal working day.
When job vacancies arise within the organisation, our volunteers are also actively encouraged to apply to become paid members of our team. Four of our current paid staff support workers started as volunteers.
At the moment we have our full complement of volunteers but if this is something you would be interested in, please contact us at info@frasac.org.uk and our Volunteer Co-Ordinator Adriana will be in touch.
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