Theresa May has said a senior Tory minister "hid in a cupboard" to avoid meeting the families of the Hillsborough disaster. The claims come as the former Prime Minster has been speaking to journalists ahead of the publication of her new book. However some survivors have met her claims with
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00:00 People can make their own opinions and views of Theresa May and there's plenty of stuff
00:08 available still to give you the true story of who Theresa May is, what her politics are
00:16 and these statements for me is to get people to buy a book and try and reinvent a career
00:24 and I'm sorry it doesn't brush with me.
00:28 These are the comments from Peter Scarfe, Chairman of the Hillsborough Survivors Support
00:32 Alliance when we asked him his thoughts on the former Prime Minister's recent comments
00:36 regarding the disaster.
00:38 The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance provides support, therapy, education and mental
00:42 health awareness for anyone who's a survivor of the disaster as well as partners or family
00:48 members.
00:49 As a Hillsborough survivor myself and others who worked on it with me and with the therapists,
00:55 we understand, we get it, we know exactly what people are going through.
01:01 People think that their story is unique because they don't talk about it and you find that
01:06 more than 90% of Hillsborough survivors don't talk about it.
01:11 The organisation is a not-for-profit who rely on donations to raise money to offer much
01:16 needed help to survivors.
01:18 We decided to set up the alliance, fundraise and pay for people to go for a private bespoke
01:26 therapy designed specifically for Hillsborough survivors.
01:31 Because obviously it's a complex PTSD from 34 years ago, it's affected so many lives.
01:38 We're only touching the surface at the moment, we've sent just over 200 people for this therapy,
01:43 it's running at a 98% success rate so people are doing fantastic.
01:48 We've sent several Nottingham Forest supporters for therapy, we've set up a Nottingham Forest
01:56 HSA, so they've got a branch in Nottingham.
02:02 We've sent a member of staff who was working at Sheffield Wednesday for therapy, it's changed
02:09 their life too.
02:11 More recently they've had support from the LFC Foundation and FA for those affected by
02:15 the scenes in Paris during the Champions League final.
02:18 We got involved with Paris, with Stade de France because it was almost a carbon copy
02:25 of Hillsborough.
02:27 After May of last year we got news of two people taking their own lives by suicide due
02:34 to being re-triggered.
02:36 As well as their HSA website and social media, there's support available via WhatsApp groups.
02:41 Peter says for all those who need it, support is there.
02:45 Don't be afraid to reach out, if you can reach out, we're here, it's confidential, it'll
02:50 always be one to one, you can join the support group, we have a WhatsApp support group, we
02:54 do monthly meetings around the field, the support is there and the thing is we're non-judgmental
03:00 and we get it.
03:01 We really understand.