A “pioneering” centre for child and adult victims of sexual assault, abuse or neglect is to be developed on the site of a notorious former children’s home.
The £2.9m facility, which will bring together experts on child protection from the NHS, police, and social work under one roof, is to be housed in St Katharine’s Centre in Edinburgh, which is currently owned by the City of Edinburgh Council, but is being sold to the health service for £825,000.
The centrewas previously a secure unit for traumatised young people from across the city but a worker, Gordon Collins was jailed in 2016 for grooming, raping and molesting a number of girls in his care between 1994 and 2006. Another member of staff had earlier been convicted in 2008 for possessing child abuse pictures and videos.
It closed in 2014 and has since been used temporarily to house asylum-seeking families.
Child abuse campaigner Alan Draper of the group In Care Abuse Survivors Scotland, welcomed the move, which he said was a valid use of the building. “Perhaps the centre should be dedicated to all those survivors who were abused on this site,” he said.
The Equally Safe Multi-Agency Centre, which is backed by NHS Lothian, City of Edinburgh Council and Police Scotland, is expected to open in 2019. and was formally approved by a meeting of the council yesterday.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “We are working to improve the experiences of victims at every stage of their journey through the justice system. An important focus is ensuring appropriately designed, trauma-informed healthcare services, which include facilities to capture forensic evidence, are made available to meet their needs.”
Tim Davison, Chief Executive of NHS Lothian, said: “This bespoke facility will provide vital services to adults, young people and children when they are at their most vulnerable. It is important to make sure the centre meets the needs of the people who will use it and we have worked closely with Rape Crisis and Children First to gain their expertise and inform each step in our planning process.
“Now we are keen to make sure this vital project becomes operational as soon as possible and we will continue working with our partners to drive it forwards.”
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