MISSION

The Family Survival Trust is a registered charity (No 1121388) whose mission is to prevent, and to provide information on coercive control, cultic behaviour and psychological manipulation. We support those affected by groups that use these techniques. We educate regarding the risks these groups pose to individuals and society and seek appropriate controls on these groups’ activities.

 

THE TEAM

Tom Sackville Chairman of Trustees

Tom was born in London, has a degree from Oxford in History and Modern Languages. He began his career working in financial services in New York, Munich and London. In 1983 he was elected as the MP for Bolton West and served as a Government Whip and Minister in the Department of Health and the Home Office. On leaving Parliament in 1997, he served as Chairman of the charity The Family Survival Trust (formerly known as FAIR), and for 5 years as President of FECRIS, the French based European federation of cult victim family support groups.

 

Dr Alexandra Stein Trustee

Alexandra Stein, Ph.D. is a writer and educator specializing in the social psychology of ideological extremism and other dangerous social relationships. She is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at London South Bank University, and previously taught at Birkbeck, University of London. She teaches a course on Cults and Totalitarianism at the Mary Ward Centre. She is the author of two books: Inside Out: A memoir of entering and breaking out of a Minneapolis political cult (Grey Door, 2002) and Terror, Love and Brainwashing: Attachment in cults and totalitarian systems (Routledge, 2016).

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Mary Russell Trustee

I have worked in this field for seven years since clarifying my own political cult experiences.  With Dr Alex Stein I have written and taught in this area and presented at a recent ICSA Conference (International Cultic Studies Association).  I have also worked with cult survivors as a therapist. I have been an FST trustee since 2017 and am one of two FST treasurers. Previously I worked as a student services manager in education and have found this experience useful in my current work.  My hobbies are walking, reading and visiting my grandchildren.