Back to uni next week so busy sorting out and organising my work

Ive made a few important decisions

1. I finally have a title for the series, Ive been using "the survivor series" as a working title but Ive now decided on "Tales from the Welsh Wood"

2. My pieces will be known as embroidered cloths - Ive decided against making them into quilts

3. I would like to self publish an illustrated book to accompany the exhibition, telling the Tales and the inspiration behind them

Ive started a Character file with a profile on each character, templates and drawings and this is proving to be really helpful in building the stories and linking them together

New characters are emerging all the time the latest is this little chap

Had some good news this week about venues for the MA show - more on this later as dates are to be confirmed - weird to be sorting out dates for 2011 already!

Will leave you with the amazing sunset over blackpool last night

One of the biggest problems for adult survivors is the issue of whether or not to report childhood abuse after such a long period of time

There have been successful prosecutions many years later if sufficient evidence is available (medical records etc) but generally the Crown Prosecution Service will take into account the abusers age and state of health and whether they are considered to be a danger to the public (eg abusing other children), the time elapsed, the cost of bringing the case to court and the likelhood of a successful prosecution.

Most survivors are advised by their counsellors/therapists that reporting the abuse can be a big help in gaining closure and can help immensely with the healing process.

For me the action of finally "telling a policeman" was a great relief and I could look my inner child in the eye and say "there, they know now and its all going to be ok"

I felt that I was also setting history straight by exposing the secret at long last plus a great relief that I no longer had the burden of carrying the secret!

Also I had taken back control and am now stronger for doing so

If you are affected by this issue please visit  http://www.napac.org.uk/  where you will find lots of information, help and support