Foundation aiming to help NI Troubles victims living in GB

Aitor Martinez, a 29-year-old social work and criminology graduate who is originally from the Basque region of northern Spain, will be based at SEFF’s London office.

“I am very excited about becoming a part of the SEFF team,” he said. “Coming from the Basque Country, I have experienced what it feels like growing up in a hostile environment, and even though now officially the war is over, I know there are still many wounds that need to be recognised and healed. Therefore, I am very keen to make a contribution to this reality.”

Welcoming Aitor into the SEFF team, the organisation’s director of services, Kenny Donaldson, said: “Aitor was born and raised in the Basque region in Spain and knows all too well the outworkings of terrorism. He too will have an appreciation of and empathy for the experience of those impacted by terrorism in the Northern Ireland context.

“SEFF are insistent that GB-based victims/survivors have equality of access to advocacy services and other support services and interventions which meet their needs.

“With no return of devolution on the immediate horizon it is essential that we have a presence at the heart of decision making for our nation. We must bring the message of innocent victims of terrorism directly to our national policy makers and opinion formers.”

Mr Donaldson added: “SEFF stands against the attempted rewrite of our history and through this service and other initiatives within the organisation we will be doing our best to ensure that right prevails. Those who seek to diminish the activities and legacy of terrorism will not succeed.”