Our Story

Brave Futures is a specialist support service for children and young people up to the age of 18 who have experienced sexual abuse. We work throughout Suffolk and Norfolk with the goal of providing a safe and trusted place for those children and young people to access support, be listened to, and feel understood.

Our aim is to provide a safe space where children and young people can make sense of their experiences and the feelings they may have. We support them to develop the skills and tools they need to rebuild their futures, move forward and thrive.

Diana Porter, OBE

Diana Porter started Brave Futures, then called ‘Fresh Start New Beginnings’, in 2012 with the focus of providing support to children and families who had been impacted by child sexual abuse.

Diana has worked with children and families for the past 50 years in a variety of statutory and voluntary settings, working both in England and Africa. Through working in the field of child sexual abuse she identified a need for there to be a service that was centred solely on the needs of the children and their families.

When the national charity she was working for changed their way of working, Diana choose redundancy and used the £6,000 she received to start up ‘Fresh Start New Beginnings. With the support of others along the way, Diana and her drive to help young people had a profound impact in the area of support for children who have experienced sexual abuse.

In 2018, she was awarded an Order of the British Empire for services to sexually abused children, young people and their families.