A WOMAN whose five children were abused by her ex-husband has told the Evening Advertiser why she thinks everyone should support the NSPCC's latest campaign.

Someone to Turn To is the message behind the project, which aims to stop children who are being abused from suffering in silence.

And Sandie, 55, a civil servant from Swindon, knows all about what can happen when abuse is kept a secret.

She and her five children lived in constant fear of her ex-husband who led a reign of terror in their home

But what Sandie didn't know was that for ten years he sexually abused her two sons and her daughter from her first marriage.

And it wasn't until 12 years ago when her daughter was 13, her eldest sons were 17 and 18 and her younger son and daughter were seven and ten that the truth came out.

The girl who we will call P told the police that he was abusing not only her, but also her best friend.

And as Sandie puts it: "All hell broke loose".

Sandie, whose full name we are not revealing for the sake of her children, said: "I had to tell my other children what had happened so I spoke to my eldest son first.

"He then disclosed that it happened to him.

"I then travelled to Liverpool to speak to my second eldest son.

"I asked him if anything had happened to him and told him if he remembered anything.

"Then he told me what had happened and my heart just broke.

"I just couldn't take it in it was like a horror story.

"He had been so devious and there were so many things that had seemed so feasible at the time.

"For instance I would often come home and one of my sons would be there instead of at school.

"I would actually shout at him for bunking off but later I found out that my ex husband had ordered him home so he could abuse him."

Sandie's children were interviewed by the police and medically examined and her ex husband was charged.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in jail, which was later reduced to seven.

And it was then that the family's slow road to recovery began.

The children were some of the first to walk through the doors of Swindon's NSPCC headquarters in Victoria Road when it opened 11 years ago.

And Sandie said she will be eternally grateful for the support that they received there.

She said: "The NSPCC were the cavalry. They came into our lives and we weren't alone.

"I can't describe the relief they showed us it wasn't the children's fault or mine."

Child abuse: the facts

The NSPCC expects to receive 1,220 calls from the Swindon area this year.

There are 129 children on the child protection register in Swindon. The Swindon police child protection unit expects to receive 2000 calls from the Swindon area.

NSPCC research shows that half of all young teenagers know another teenager who is suffering from some form of abuse.

A third of the teenagers say they would keep their friend's experience a secret and one in four would not know where to turn for help.

Seven per cent of children experience serious physical abuse at the hands of their parents; one per cent are sexually abused by a parent or carer and three per cent by a relative during childhood; 16 per cent of children experience serious maltreatment at the hands of their parents.

Diane Milne