Consultation on Cuts
Birmingham City Council have announced plans to remove the Third Sector grants programme, which funds 41 charities in Birmingham that support vulnerable people. This is in order to make a saving of £3.2 million in 2017/18 increasing to £5 million in 2018/19 as part of the savings they have been told to make by central government.
This will mean that from September 2017 RSVP will lose annual funding of £10,625 that has previously contributed to counselling, advocacy and self-help group support and information for adult survivors of sexual violence and abuse.
There is currently a public consultation, where any members of the public can submit their thoughts, suggestions and recommendations. You can access more information, and the survey here https://www.birminghambeheard.org.uk/people-1/grants-for-the-third-sector-people-directorate-bud
We particularly encourage survivors to contribute as we think it is vital that your voices are heard.
For anyone who uses our services please be reassured, that though this is a loss of income for RSVP, it will not result in the closure of any service. We have worked hard to diversify our income so that we are not wholly reliant on local and central government at a time when there are so many cuts to public spending.
Find out who currently supports our work, and how you can donate or fundraise for us here rsvporg.co.uk/support-us
Arts with Hearts at Rowheath Pavilion Craft Market
Fancy a nice day out for Bank Holiday Monday? Then head down to the Rowheath Pavillion Vintage and Craft Market on Monday 1st May where Arts with Hearts will be selling their crafty creations to raise money for RSVP.
Look out for their cute range of sock monkeys!
Vagina Monologues – and cupcakes!
A big thank you to all involved with the Infinity Stage Company at University of Birmingham who are donating £986 to RSVP. These are the profits from their award-winning production of the Vagina Monologues, which included some rather special cupcakes. The show was named ‘Best Event’ by the University of Birmingham student’s guild – a well deserved award. Congratulations Infinity!
Infinity Stage Company are a charity student theatre group who have been raising money for RSVP this entire academic year and had already raised over £800 for us from their Christmas Ball, raffles, and other shows. Find put more about them and their upcoming shows at www.facebook.com/InfinityStageCompany
‘Take me out’ at Aston University
Thank you to Sultana Rahmen and her friends at Aston University who organised their own unique version of ‘Take Me Out’ and raised almost £500 for RSVP.
You can read Sultana’s entertaining blog post about the evening at: https://shewhothoughtwrote.wordpress.com/2017/03/07/nolikeynolighty-things-just-got-a-little-spicy/
Thank you to the People’s Postcode Lottery
RSVP have been awarded £18,818 from the People’s Postcode Trust, a grant-giving charity funded entirely by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. A huge thank you to the trust and players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. The funds will be used to create self-help support and resources for survivors of sexual abuse.
There is a great need for therapeutic support that has lasting impact on the wellbeing of survivors. Self-help techniques ensure increased wellbeing that is sustainable as survivors have the tools, techniques and emotional literacy to cope in the future.
We will create a package of written self-help information, available online and in print on topics and issues important to survivors. We will also deliver a programme of group support, where survivors can receive peer support.
Infinity fundraising update
Some lovely news to share before Christmas – the kind folk at Infinity Stage Company organised a fundraising ball for us earlier this month, and raised a fantastic amount for RSVP. £846 to be precise!
Infinity chose RSVP as their charity of the year for this academic year, and they’re already making a real difference. A big thank you to the whole team.
If you’re interested in checking out their work – you can see them in a production of the Vagina Monologues in February at the University of Birmingham. Check their Facebook page for more information www.facebook.com/InfinityStageCompany
#GiveMe5 is live
As part of Charity Tuesday, Local Giving will be matching 1000 £5 donations all day today. Each £5 donation made today will go into a draw, randomly selected donations will be matched by Local Giving, meaning donations are doubled at no extra cost to you.
To make a £5 donation, and enter the draw for match funded donations, go to localgiving.org/charity/rsvp-wm
The next #GiveMe5 is on 16th December.
Santa Cause 3
Come along to a great charity evening where everyone wI’ll have a fun night whilst supporting our specialist charity.
Every year we support thousands of survivors of rape, sexual violence and sexual abuse whether they are men, women, children, asylum seekers or trafficked people. The demand within Birmingham and the West Midlands is growing at an unacceptable level. We need your help and support to raise our profile and to also help engage supporters.
Santa Cause 3 – The Return of Mrs Cause, will take place on Wednesday 23rd November 2016. The plan is to meet at The Bank Restaurant & Bar in Brindley Place, Birmingham for a welcome drink of wine, beer or bubbly and photo shoot starting at 6pm. Everyone will then be given a special seasonal outfit before we leave for our second venue. The first 100 people to book will be given a free seasonal outfit sponsored by our good friends and supporters Orton Estates Ltd…… So book your tickets here !
Then at approximately 7.30pm we will move onto Zizzis where you will receive another free welcome drink of bubbly and food.
We then will move to our final destination of the night Nuvo, at approximately 9pm where we spend the remainder of the evening where there will be a DJ, a raffle with some great prizes and treats for a Christmas party!
Unlike our Santa Cause events on previous years we are keeping this event to three venues to allow for a more leisurely approach.
Book your tickets on the link above but if you do require any additional information please contact us on:
info@rsvporg.co.uk
We look forward to seeing you there!
The Tahlia Banks award – helping young people achieve their educational goals
We are extremely grateful to Supatrax for supporting one of our clients via the Tahlia Banks award. Tahlia Banks passed away in April 2015 after a life long battle with Cystic Fibrosis, aged 20. Despite her condition, Tahlia inspired many to achieve through her media and radio skills and successfully enrolled on a BA Hons Degree in Media and Communications.
Through this award, one of our young clients now has her own laptop that she can use to do homework, and achieve at school. Huge thanks to the Tahlia Banks award for supporting this young survivor to overcome disadvantage for a more hopeful future.
Grow Your Tenner is live
It’s Grow Your Tenner time with Localgiving. Donations of £10 will be doubled by Localgiving at no extra cost. That means a £10 donation made to RSVP today turns into £20, and a new regular monthly direct debit donation of £10 is turned into £20 for the first three months. If you’d like to support our work providing specialist services to survivors of rape and abuse, this is really the best time to give. The scheme is live until the pot of money (£345,000 for all charities’ match-funding) runs out. Each charity may receive up to a maximum of £2,500 of match funding through the campaign: £1,000 from one-time donations and £1,500 from Direct Debit donations matched for 3 months. Donations to RSVP will be matched until the limit is hit or the match fund has run out.The money was all used up in 11 days last year!
Go to our LocalGiving charity page to donate www.localgiving.org/charity/rsvp-wm/
Read more about Grow Your Tenner www.localgiving.org/what-we-do/campaigns/grow-your-tenner
Thank you in advance for your support, and please feel free to spread the word!