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Government’s Prisoner Early Release Scheme: What Does It Mean for Survivors?

It has been another challenging month for survivors, many holding their breath as the first roll outs of prisoners took place under the Government’s Early Release Scheme.  

Under the Sentencing Act 2026 early release scheme in England and Wales, the government’s earned progression model offers qualifying prisoners earlier release, serving less than half of their prison sentences. This is a very concerning and drastic measure to tackle prison overcrowding, leaving many survivors feeling disheartened and in fear.  

Around 5,000 prisoners are scheduled to be released in our communities, which was originally 6,000. Rigorous campaigning from ministers and survivor groups have led to the exclusion of people serving sentences for rape, serious child sexual and other grooming offences. 

The Government promises that safeguarding measures like licensing conditions and monitoring, such as real-time GPS ankle tagging, are in place. Wider reforms were also introduced to increase supervision in the community and survivor support services.  However, we are not the only survivor group who still have grave concerns.

What This Means For Survivors 

For many survivors, sentencing represents more than punishment. It can provide a sense of acknowledgement, accountability and safety. That is why news headlines about offenders being released earlier than expected can be distressing, particularly for those who have worked hard to rebuild their lives after abuse. 

Further details can be accessed online via www.victimsupport.org.uk/offender-release-helpline/

What should survivors do if they are concerned? 

If you are worried about an offender’s release, there are practical steps you can take: 

1. Speak to your support worker or ISVA 

An Independent Sexual Violence Advocate (ISVA) can help you understand what information is available and what safety measures may apply. 

2. Check whether you are registered with victim notification services 

Some victims are entitled to receive information about release dates and licence conditions through victim contact arrangements. Learn more about the Victim Contact Scheme here.

3. Report concerns immediately 

If an offender attempts contact, breaches license conditions, or causes concern for your safety, report this to the police and relevant authorities as soon as possible. For life-threatening emergencies, please call 999.

Our Message to Survivors

We understand that discussions around early release can feel frightening, frustrating, or deeply unfair. 

Every survivor deserves to feel safe, informed and supported. You do not have to carry these concerns alone.  

We are working tirelessly to voice survivors’ lived-experiences from our region, advocating for better support from the Centre. Whilst this scheme will aid in reducing prison overcrowding, we have grave concerns about survivors’ safety now and in the future.  

Rising with Resilience: Celebrate the End of the RSVP Recovery Appeal

We are very pleased to announce that the RSVP Recovery Appeal is now complete, reached over 110% of our target!  Thank you to our fantastic community of supporters for raising over £5,700 to help rebuild our vital services for survivors: children, adults, their parents and carers.  

This is a big achievement after the tough year we have had, as a specialist service and the sector as a whole. Back in May, we had shared the tough news about our funding crisis. We had to close certain services, and lost dear members of staffs due to funding cuts.

The Recovery Appeal was our earnest ask that you take what action you can to show survivors that they matter.

A special thanks also goes to our two incredible supporters whose fundraising challenges added to our appeal: the 100 Miles Dog Walking Challenge by Jo and the Rail Scrabblethon 2026 by Adrian. Both have gathered much support, raising over £500! We cannot thank you enough for helping us reshape the future for survivors. 

Just as the appeal concluded, news hits about reforms to support survivors navigating the criminal justice system. The Government announced a series of changes aimed at improving how rape and serious sexual offence cases are handled.  This is a wonderful reminder of how putting lived experience at the heart of change uplifts us all.

We, at RSVP, welcome these steps in reforming the journey to justice, and will continue working to ensure that every survivor’s voice is heard, supported and respected.

Thank you for supporting us, through the toughest of times.

Take Part In HS2 Resident Survey

RSVP is carrying out this anonymous survey to understand how HS2 construction is affecting residents of Chelmsley Wood and Castle Vale.

Key points:

• We are not collecting names, addresses, email addresses or any information that can identify you.
• Taking part is voluntary.
• You may skip any question you do not wish to answer.
• Your responses will be combined with those of other residents and used to help evidence local need and shape community support services and funding applications.
• By completing this survey, you agree that your anonymous responses can be used for these purposes.

Thank you for your time and support. 

Make your voice heard.

👉🏼 Click here to fill out the HS2 Resident Survey.

Survivors At The Centre: Our Talk With the Victims’ Commissioner

At the start of the first Victims Rights Week (September 21–27, 2026) by the West Midlands Police And Crime Commisssioner, RSVP and our sister organisation GINA had a great opportunity. We welcomed the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Claire Waxman OBE, and the West Midlands PCC Victims Advocate Natalie Queiroz, whose own lived experience gives a voice to many survivors of domestic abuse.

Just a few days later, the Government announced a series of reforms aimed at improving how rape and serious sexual offence cases are handled. The changes include fixed trial dates, specialist courtrooms for rape and serious sexual offences in every Crown Court across England and Wales, and better facilities for victims, including private waiting rooms and separate entrances.

These changes come in response to a system that, for too long, has failed many survivors. With rape cases taking an average of 424 days to reach Crown Court, it is unsurprising that many victims withdraw from the process before their case is heard. As Andy Burnham recently stated, victims of rape and serious sexual offences have felt “let down” by the justice system for far too long, and that this is NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

We see the personal, human impact of “not good enough” every day.

Behind every statistic is a person whose life has been placed on hold while they wait for justice. At RSVP, we have supported survivors who have waited as long as nine years from reporting an offence to seeing their case reach court. Others have faced repeated postponements, with trial dates moved multiple times or sentencing hearings delayed at the last minute.

Some survivors have arrived at court expecting the protections they were promised, only to be directed through the main public entrance and forced to fear coming in contact with the person accused of harming them. Others have felt unable to continue and have withdrawn from the process altogether.

These experiences can have a profound impact on wellbeing, recovery and confidence in the justice system.

However, we also see the difference that dedicated, specialist support can make. Our ISVAs walk alongside survivors throughout what is often a long and difficult journey, providing practical guidance, emotional support and advocacy at every stage.

We welcome these proposed reforms by the government, which offer hope that future survivors may face fewer barriers and less uncertainty. However, meaningful change will depend not only on policy announcements, but on their effective implementation. There is a need for a radical and urgent overhaul. We echo the concerns that Claire Waxman voiced in her open letter to the Prime Minister, stating: “As you prepare to set out your ten-year vision for the country through your Plan for Britain, I urge you to place criminal justice at its heart. Victims need more than assurances that the system will hold together.”

Survivors deserve a justice system that is timely, compassionate and trauma-informed. RSVP and GINA look forward to helping these changes ease survivors through improved criminal justice processes, and will continue working to ensure that every survivor’s voice is heard, supported and respected.

Raising The Bar: Are You Ready for the Changes to Workplace Harassment Law?

Since October 2024, employers have had a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work.

But what does this mean in practice?

From reasonable to “all reasonable” steps.

There is no one-size-fits-all checklist. What is reasonable will depend on an organisation’s size, sector, resources, working environment and the risks faced by its workers.

Employers should be able to demonstrate that they have proactively identified risks and taken appropriate action. This could include:

· Risk assessments: Identifying potential hotspots, including lone working, power imbalances, alcohol at work events, customer-facing roles, travel, remote working and social media

· Policies and procedures: Ensuring anti-harassment, bullying, grievance and disciplinary policies are effective, current and communicated to all workers

· Training: Making sure staff and managers understand what harassment looks like, how to raise concerns and how to respond appropriately to disclosures

· Listening to workers: Using one-to-ones, staff surveys, exit interviews and other feedback to identify concerns and monitor workplace culture

· Clear reporting: Providing accessible reporting routes and responding to concerns promptly, fairly and sensitively, with appropriate safeguards against further harassment or victimisation

· Third-party risks: Considering how workers may be exposed to harassment from customers, clients, suppliers, contractors or members of the public.

The message is clear: prevention needs to be active, ongoing and evidenced — not simply a policy sitting in a handbook.

What changes in October 2026?

The Employment Rights Act 2025 will:

☑️Strengthen the preventative duty.

☑️Employers will need to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers.

☑️Introduce third-party harassment protections.

☑️Employers will have an obligation not to permit harassment of their workers by third parties.

☑️Increase the potential consequences.

Where a tribunal finds that an employer has breached the preventative duty following a successful sexual harassment claim, compensation can be increased by up to 25%.

These changes build on wider reforms, including stronger whistleblowing protection for workers who report sexual harassment, introduced in April 2026.

How can RSVP help?

The Rape and Sexual Violence Project (RSVP) provides free counselling and advocacy for survivors of sexual violence and abuse across Birmingham and Solihull. Our specialist training team also works with organisations to help prevent sexual harassment and create safer, more inclusive workplaces.

Support can include:

Policy review and gap analysis – reviewing existing policies and procedures and identifying areas for improvement.

Workplace risk assessments – helping organisations identify higher-risk roles, environments and situations and develop practical action plans.

Tailored training – providing staff, manager and leadership training on harassment, bystander intervention, responding to disclosures and creating positive workplace cultures.

Reporting and cultural audits – reviewing reporting systems, consulting with staff and helping organisations identify and address cultural or systemic concerns.

Counselling support – through RSVP’s sister organisation, GINA, counselling packages can also be arranged for employees affected by sexual violence and harassment.

The RSVP team has supported organisations including Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Aston University, West Midlands Business Festival, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, BHSF, Colmore BID and Safer Dance – Night Time Economies Project.

Income from RSVP’s consultancy and training services helps fund its vital counselling and advocacy services.

Scan the QR code or click here to see all our upcoming training sessions.

Is your organisation ready?

The move from “reasonable steps” to “all reasonable steps” is more than a change in wording. It is a prompt for employers to look closely at their workplace culture, understand where risks exist and make sure prevention is embedded in everyday practice.

RSVP can help you understand the risks, strengthen your approach and build safer workplaces.

For more information, contact trainer@rsvporg.co.uk

Thank You Curry for Charity: The Taste of Giving

In July, we were delighted to hear from Fiza and Kamran, the kind souls behind Curry For Charity. For many years, they have been supporting local and national causes, using their love language of food to do good and raise money for essential services.

Within a month, the fantastic team put together the fundraising event in support of RSVP: a heart-warming evening of delicious curries and community spirit. The taste of giving can fill every soul!

A big thank you to all who joined us for a wonderful dinner and helped us raise funds during such a difficult funding period in RSVP. To know more about our funding situation, check out our Recovery Appeal.

Every pound shows that survivors have a safe space, with RSVP.

Jo’s 100 Miles Dog Walking Challenge

Strengthening the RSVP Recovery Appeal is the 100 Miles Dog Walking Challenge by our dear supporter and colleague, Jo.

We’re so grateful for her dedication (and her four-legged companions too!). Together, they’re putting in the miles to raise both funds and awareness for our work.

If you want to consider taking on a challenge of your own and raise funds for RSVP, we’d love to make it happen! Write to us at info@rsvporg.co.uk today.

Update: Extension due to Heat Wave

The red weather alert and high temperatures are impacting everyone in the UK, including Jo and her loving pets. That’s why the 100 Miles Dog Walking Challenge has to be paused till the weather cools down.

Read Jo’s update in her own words:

We thank Jo for sticking through this tough time, and will keep supporters posted when they are back on the walks again!

September will offer a pleasant weather to join Jo for the last few miles of the challenge. Keep a look out for her invitaton to join the trio for the final walks. Please come along, if you can, to help Jo finish strong.

Update: The RSVP Recovery Appeal Going Strong

Everyone from RSVP, and the survivors we stand alongside with, are deeply grateful for your continued support. Whether you’ve been with us for years or have only recently joined our community, thank you for choosing to stand with survivors of sexual violence. 

Your solidarity strengthens our work and reminds survivors that they are not alone.

Two Months of Impact

In June, we launched our RSVP Recovery Appeal to recover from our funding crisis. We aimed to raise £5,000 by August to rebuild our vital services, and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response so far.

Thanks to your kindness and support, we’ve now reached 70% of our target. This is a fantastic milestone and a testament to the strength of the community standing alongside us, for survivors.

A big thank you! We truly couldn’t do this without you.

Extending The Appeal

Due to your generous support, we are now extending our appeal for one more month. We are very close to our goal, so let’s reach the finish line together.

If you’ve already donated, thank you. If you’ve been considering making a gift, now is the perfect time. We look forward to turn this 70% into 100%. Together, we can make our recovery a reality.

Some of our dearest supporters have taken by their own ways to fundraise in support of our Recovery Appeal. For instance, check out the 100 Miles Dog Walking Challenge by Jo here.

If you also have something in mind to support RSVP, we’d love to work with you! Write to us at info@rsvporg.co.uk today.

Important Update: A Message from Our CEO, Lisa

In this update, I have some difficult news to share with you and I want to speak to you directly and honestly.

The last few months have been the most challenging and destabilising time at RSVP.

We’ve been hit by a deepening funding crisis, at the same time as more survivors than ever have reached out for our support.

Demand for RSVP services has risen sharply, costs have increased and we have had to make painful, difficult decisions to protect RSVP’s survival.

These decisions have affected survivors, our dedicated team and the survivor community.

The Decisions We Have Made So Far

• Closed two of our services: our long-running social wellbeing groups, established in 2008, and our Sex Worker ISVA Service, established in 2017.

• Reduced other services, including pausing new referrals into our Adult Counselling Service from April.

• Made changes to our Independent Sexual Violence Advocacy (ISVA) Services, as ISVA/Advocates have caseloads higher than they should be. This is impacted by survivors being forced to wait longer for justice, due to the years that they wait for a court date, meaning they need ISVA support for longer.

These decisions affect real people, survivors who have finally reached out, and our dedicated team who give everything they have to this work.

All while, every single day, we continue to see the power of RSVP’s specialist support.

🙍🏽♀️Why We Keep Going: A Survivor’s Words

This is our why and why RSVP exists.

This is why we are determined to recover and rebuild.

For survivors 💜

🚀Launching Soon…

In June, we will launch something important for survivors, so do look out for more information in our next newsletter.

Its focus will be to:

• Start to rebuild our core services, and ensure that RSVP continues to stand with child and adult survivors, from Birmingham and Solihull.

• Rebuild hope, strengthen the survivor community, and ensure survivors are not alone.

Stay Connected: Join Our New WhatsApp Channel ✅

We have now launched a new WhatsApp Channel where you can follow:

• Real stories of impact.
• Behind-the-scenes insights.
• Updates on survivors’ needs.
• Ways to get involved with RSVP 🫱🏽🫲🏻

It’s a simple way to stay close to the work you care about. Scan the QR code or click the button below.

Other Ways to Help 🤗

We know that our supporters like to support RSVP, in many different ways.

This is why we have created a variety of meaningful ways to support survivors using what you already have:

• Corporate connections: Can you introduce us to your workplace CSR team or suggest RSVP as a charity partner?

• 🥿👚📱Fundraise with what’s at home: Can you sell or donate items you no longer need? Look out soon for information on our new schemes where if you donate good quality second-hand bras and smart phones (and other tech) to RSVP, it could raise funds for us.

• Share our messages: Can you share and help us use our voice and survivors’ voices to help us reach new people, who may never have heard of RSVP.

• Champion our work: Can you talk about why specialist support matters, especially now? 🗣️

Every single action strengthens RSVP’s support, care and community around survivors.

Looking Ahead With Determination 🌟

This is a tough moment, for survivors, for our dedicated team, and for RSVP. However, we believe it can also be a moment of change, connection and hope. RSVP has always been built on people who show big-hearted, bold, belief in survivors. These values will carry us through this period of recovery.

Thank you for caring, for continuing to support survivors and for standing with us.

With gratitude,
Lisa Thompson
CEO, Rape and Sexual Violence Project.

⚠️Office Closure- January 2026

The weather is taking a severe turn, and now there is an amber weather warning across the region. Storm Goretti might make travelling quite difficult due to snowfall predictions, and that’s why RSVP has made the decision to temporarily close our office till normal weather returns.

Here are the dates to keep in mind:

a. Office closed from Thurs 8th Jan, 2pm onwards, after which our team will work from home.

b. Office closed all day on Friday, 9th Jan, with our team working from home. This is a precaution, since the amber warning extends to Friday morning and could impact safe travel.

c. Office open on Saturday as usual, unless the current predicted weather changes. We will send further updates if anything changes.

We are in the processing of contacting clients, due to be seen in person (at our main premises, outreach, schools etc. and from 2pm today or tomorrow) to inform them to stay safe, not to travel & to be offered an alternative phone session instead. For younger children we will offer carers/parents a check in instead.

Please look out for a message on your email or phone to update you. Already booked phone appointments will generally continue as planned.

Although this is a change to how we support clients, we want to ensure that survivors, our team and colleagues can avoid travel during an amber warning, and stay safe. This is our priority.

For any questions or assistance, please get in touch with us via email: info@rsvporg.co.uk