A mum-of-three has drawn on her own childhood experiences of abuse to write poetry which she hopes will help others.

Jane Reed, of York, will be reading from her first book of poems, Images, at a charity evening held by the charity Survive.

Survive offers help and advice to adults who were abused as children, and many of Jane's poems examine her own and others' experience of abuse.

Jane said she had been prompted to start writing by her husband, Michael, himself a victim of abuse in a children's home in north Wales.

"I wrote a couple and started writing as a way of 'getting it out'," she said.

"I'm a frontline volunteer at Survive and I help people overcome it. I'm often the first point of contact for adults.

"Abuse is not just child sexual abuse - it is bullying, physical and mental and emotional. People do different things to overcome this, some harm themselves, some drink, some need psychiatric services.

"What happens to a lot of people is they don't tell anybody for years. They can get to 40 or 50 and they ring our helpline. Sometimes they've seen something on TV which has triggered it off and just want to talk to somebody.

"I had a 50-year-old man ring up and he just wanted to talk to somebody about what happened to him because he couldn't tell his wife.

"Sometimes we get women who have just discovered it happened to their brother or sister, and it triggered something off in them.

"People can get over this thing, even thought it can take years and years.

"A lot of people have started writing their own poems and it's helped them. They ring me up and say they've read my poems and it's helped them."

Jane said her book of poetry had been ready a year ago, but it was not until she read some of her poems to other members of Survive that she had the confidence to share it with other people.

Her book will be launched at a charity event at Brayton village hall on April 20.

The evening will also include a session by Michael, a clairvoyant. It starts at 6.30pm. Tickets cost £5 and all the money will go to Survive, to buy them in advance call Della Burwell on 07950 313547.

The book costs £3, £1 to Survive, the rest for printing costs, can be obtained with cheque made out to Jane from Survive at 10 Priory Street, York YO1 6EZ.

* The Survive helpline is 01904 642830 and you can leave a message if no one answers.

Updated: 11:41 Tuesday, April 10, 2001