Who We Are

Our Name

Our Name

The Quetzal is a beautiful and vibrant bird native to Central and South America. Legend tells us that the Quetzal cannot survive in a cage and that it dies rather than live without freedom.

We chose the Quetzal as a symbol of freedom, resilience and transformation. The support we offer helps women recovering from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse to begin breaking down the psychological barriers that can keep them feeling trapped, enabling them to heal, rebuild their sense of self, and move towards a life of greater freedom and possibility.

Like the Quetzal, we believe that every woman deserves the freedom to heal.

Our History

Quetzal was founded by Jennifer Anthony Black in 1989 as a self-help group and then developing into a more formal range of professional support services.  Sadly, Jennifer passed away in March 2009, but her vision remains.

In 2019, Quetzal celebrated its 30 years and the start of a new journey as it strives to develop its services further. Quetzal remains the only long-term counselling services supporting women recovering from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse. Through its outreach work, Quetzal also aspires to become a driving force in using a community-based approach to empower communities with the knowledge and capacity to support further women affected by non-recent abuse.

Our Vision

A world where every survivors can live free from the trauma of abuse and exploitation.

Mission

To provide free and inclusive, counselling, support services, and outreach to empower female survivors recovery from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse

Values

Inclusive

We welcome all, challenge our own bias and appoint staff, volunteers and trustees who reflect the diverse communities we work among 

Safe

We offer a confidential environment where female survivors can build trusting relationships with their counsellors, and a protective and nurturing environment for our staff 

Integrity 

We are honest and transparent, and seek feedback from those we support 

Resilient

Our support provides female survivors with the space for action and to reflect on their abuse and enables them to take agency over how they cope, recover, respond and transform. 

Our Aims

• Give female survivors a voice to be heard and enable agency and control  
• Work with local communities to challenge the shame and taboo narratives and raise awareness of childhood sexual abuse
• Work in a trauma-informed way that doesn’t re-traumatise female survivors, staff, volunteers or others.
• Keep the voice of those with lived experience central to how we work and shape what we do 

Our Objectives

• Provide high quality tailored support to survivors of childhood sexual abuse that meets their individual needs 
• Ensure support is accessible and available when needed 
• Work in collaboration with other local organisations to ensure the best possible standard of service delivery 
• Raise awareness of the effects of childhood sexual abuse and of trauma-informed care.

Our Approach

Quetzal uses a trauma-informed approach in its work, culture and organisation and as such:

• Understands the widespread impact of trauma and potential paths for recovery
• Recognises the signs and symptoms of trauma in female survivors, families, staff and others involved in the system
• Responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures and practices; and
• Seeks to actively prevent re-traumatisation.

Our Team

Our Trustees

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