CSA Survivor UK

The Silence Ends

I’m Matt Penn — a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, a person in long-term recovery, and now an author and speaker using lived experience to say the things most people avoid. For years I carried it in silence, and it didn’t stay in the past, it showed up in my thoughts, my behaviour, my addiction, and the way I saw myself.

Recovery hasn’t been clean or easy, but it’s been real, and that’s what I bring into every talk and every piece of work I do. I speak to start honest conversations, challenge stigma, and give people a language for what they’ve been carrying, whether that’s survivors, families, or professionals. If you’re here, you’re in the right place.

The Recovery Initiative

Online peer support three evenings a week for people who are sober but stuck. You can join the FREE online peer support service I designed and facilitate.

👉Let us walk with you on your sober journey

Giving a voice to survivors

A lot of men don’t talk about what happened to them.

So it shows up in other ways — in addiction, in anger, in silence.

The link between trauma and how we cope is real. It just isn’t spoken about enough.

Work With Me

I don’t just talk about what happened — I talk about what it does to you, and what it takes to deal with it.

I speak to groups, services, and organisations about childhood trauma, addiction, and recovery — not from theory, but from lived experience.

No scripts. No sugar-coating. Just real conversations that people actually remember.

Whether it’s a small group or a room full of professionals, I aim to leave people thinking differently about trauma, silence, and what recovery really looks like.

👉 Find out more

Blog posts

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  • Person sitting alone in a dimly lit room looking reflective, representing the emotional and mental challenges of alcohol recovery beyond willpower.

    What Actually Helps When You’re Trying to Stop ...

    If you’re trying to stop drinking, you’ve probably heard the same advice over and over. “Just stay strong.”“Keep busy.”“Think about the consequences.” And while some of that can help in...

    What Actually Helps When You’re Trying to Stop ...

    If you’re trying to stop drinking, you’ve probably heard the same advice over and over. “Just stay strong.”“Keep busy.”“Think about the consequences.” And while some of that can help in...

  • Close-up of a person in a hood looking directly ahead with a serious expression, representing lived experience and resilience, alongside bold text about supporting recovery work through The Recovery Initiative, speaking, advocacy, and “Buy Me a Coffee”

    If This Work Matters to You, Here’s How You Can...

    Everything I do now comes from lived experience. The speaking, the writing, The Recovery Initiative — it’s all built on the same thing. Real conversations about trauma, addiction, and recovery...

    If This Work Matters to You, Here’s How You Can...

    Everything I do now comes from lived experience. The speaking, the writing, The Recovery Initiative — it’s all built on the same thing. Real conversations about trauma, addiction, and recovery...

  • Man sitting alone on a shoreline looking out to sea, appearing reflective and weighed down, representing guilt and emotional burden linked to trauma, with text reading “The Guilt That Didn’t Belong to Me”

    The Guilt That Didn’t Belong to Me

    For a long time, I carried guilt I couldn’t explain. It sat there in the background, constant. Sometimes quiet, sometimes overwhelming, but always there. A feeling that I’d done something...

    The Guilt That Didn’t Belong to Me

    For a long time, I carried guilt I couldn’t explain. It sat there in the background, constant. Sometimes quiet, sometimes overwhelming, but always there. A feeling that I’d done something...

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How you can help

If you’ve found value in what I do and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee.

The Recovery Initiative is free because I never want money to be a barrier to someone getting help, but it still costs time, energy, and real money to run, from Zoom and website fees to the hours I put into sessions, content, and support.

I speak at events, recovery groups and schools but do not charge a fee.

Buying me a coffee is a simple way to help keep this going, to help me reach more people, and to build something that genuinely changes lives.

There’s no pressure and no expectations, just know that every bit of support helps keep this space alive for someone who might really need it.

👉 Support the work

This Is Where It Started

This book isn’t polished. It’s not pretty.

It’s what really happened.

Recovery Is Possible: An Addict’s Story is my story of addiction, trauma, and everything that came with it — the chaos, the guilt, the anger, and the moments I nearly didn’t make it through.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, broken, or like no one gets it… this is for you.

I am donating 100% of the profts from the sales of this book to the mental health charity - Burton and District Mind!

👉 Get the Book

This is why I speak

I stayed silent for years, and it nearly cost me everything. Speaking up didn’t fix it overnight, but it changed the direction of my life.

Now I use my voice for the people who don’t have theirs yet — the ones still carrying it, still trying to make sense of it, still thinking they’re on their own.

If something here has resonated with you, don’t leave it there. Reach out, start the conversation, or take the next step.

Silence keeps things stuck. Speaking is where things start to shift.