Councillor Eileen Taylor, the new Lord Mayor of Leeds has selected SARSVL as her Chosen Charity of the year.

SARSVL provides specialist, free and confidential support services to women and girls who have been affected by child sexual abuse, rape and all forms of sexual violence at any time in their lives. These include a dedicated helpline, available six days a week via freephone, email, text and face-to-face, a range of long- and short-term counselling services, and a specialist Independent Sexual Violence Advocacy (ISVA) service.

SARSVL is a proudly accredited member of Rape Crisis England & Wales. The charity’s services are provided by women, for women and girls, within a women-only safe space.

Now in its 10th year, SARSVL’s specialist frontline services were accessed by 1,199 local women and girl survivors of sexual violence and abuse in 2018-19.

Katie Russell, SARSVL Trustee said:

“SARSVL is honoured and excited to have been chosen as the new Lord Mayor’s charity for the year ahead.

It’s ten years since we came together as a diverse group of local women activists with no funding but a unifying aim of filling a crucial gap in service provision for women and girls in Leeds.

In this significant anniversary year, this partnership represents a poignant and vital opportunity for us to raise awareness and understanding of sexual violence and abuse in our communities, and to reach more of the victims and survivors who need and want our services.

We’re so grateful to Councillor Taylor for recognising our specialist, grassroots work with local women and girls in this way, and we really look forward to working closely with her throughout her term in office.”

Through the year-long partnership, SARSVL aims to raise awareness and understanding of child sexual abuse, rape and all forms of sexual violence, and to ensure more Leeds women and girls who’ve been subjected to sexual violence and abuse get the specialist support they need, want and deserve.

All money raised through being the Lord Mayor’s Chosen Charity will go towards supporting women and girl survivors in Leeds through SARSVL’s suite of specialist services, with a particular focus on counselling, which the charity is experiencing unprecedented demand for.

ENDS

For more information, interviews and briefings:
Email – info@sarsvl.org.uk
Phone – 0113 2439102
Website – www.supportafterrapeleeds.org.uk