It took me some time to find the front door of the Safer Living Foundation. There was no nameplate, and the building was one of many anonymous red-brick Victorian terraced houses in Nottingham. It was January 2025, and I was wrapped up against the cold as I walked up and down the street trying to find the right address.
There was a very good reason for this anonymity. The foundation works with people convicted and imprisoned for sexual offences after they have been released back into the community. The men may have been found guilty of anything from indecent exposure to viewing abusive images online to contact offences involving children.
And people who have committed sex crimes can be among the most reviled in society. At times they are the subject of vigilante action.
In May 2025, the government announced it was considering the roll-out of voluntary chemical castration for sex offenders and also looking at whether this could be made mandatory.
But while this sort of tough rhetoric grabs headlines, the Safer Living Foundation claims the work it does providing a safe space for people with sexual convictions to find support with reintegrating into society has had positive results.
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“It has been fairly hand-to-mouth over the years we’ve been operating,” says Lynn Saunders, another of the co-founders of the Safer Living Foundations as well as a former governor at Whatton and now professor of applied criminology at Derby University. “There seems to be a big reluctance because of the nature of the work, people find it difficult to be associated with it.”
In May, the centre closed, while the Aurora Project was paused.
On the final day, staff, volunteers and some of the men they have supported, packed into the small kitchen to say goodbye.
“I’ve decided to celebrate the fact we existed at all,” said Dave. “We’ve helped a lot of lives and prevented a lot of victims.”
A few hours later, …
Chemical castration is absolutely barbaric and the idea should’ve never entered the discussion at all.
This is a well written article about efforts in the UK to support both those who have been convicted of a sex offense and those who are in danger of committing a sex offense. According to this article, many people have been helped by an organization that is now out of business. What a tragedy. Still, that organization could be used in the U.S. and other countries as a model of what could and should be done.