AFTER two-and-a-half years of campaigning by the Echo, Lincolnshire's Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) opened on April 19.

But securing the facility for the county's victims of sex attacks was a long process.

Lincolnshire Police originally told the Echo it would open a SARC by the end of last year regardless of any Government funding the force might receive to set up the facility.

And the building on the outskirts of Lincoln, which now houses Spring Lodge, was purchased last spring.

Last summer Lincolnshire Police heard the good news that its application for a Home Office set-up grant was successful and the force was awarded £75,000 that went towards the cost of refurbishing the building.

The SARC is a joint venture between Lincolnshire Police and NHS Lincolnshire, which has commissioned the Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust to run Spring Lodge for the next five years.