This is the Team page for Running4Refuge!
We have now established eight amazing teams!:
#RunningTeam - our original running team taking on the London Marathon in April 2014, which now includes Chief Constable Simon Parr from Cambridgeshire Police. The #RunningTeam is made up of five domestic abuse cops from the DAISU at Cambs Police;
#TeamShark - Six incredible ladies swimming with 10ft Tiger Sharks at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire on the 30th November 2013;
#TeamAirborne - Seven amazing men and women who will be jumping from a fixed line parachute at 3,500ft in late February / early March 2014
#TeamAbseil - an incredible team who conquered the Avon Gorge Mega Abseil Challenge on the 10th August 2013 raising over £2000!
#TeamRappel - who will be taking on the Avon Gorge Mega Abseil Challenge on the 22nd September 2013!
#JulesBChallenge - Jules B. our intrepid detention officer from the London Metropolitan Police who will run the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October 2013, and the London Marathon in April 2014!
#TeamEndurance - our five incredible ladies lead by Lisette Harvey - who will take on the most amazing 100km endurance walk, from London to Brighton, in May 2014!
#TeamUSA - an eight strong group of American champions, lead by Socorro Piontka, raising money for Domestic Abuse charities in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Everything that Socorro raises she is donating to Refuge UK!
Together we are aiming to raise over £10,000 for the benefit of the UK's most prominent charity supporting victims of Domestic Abuse:
REFUGE UK
Every day Refuge gives shelter to over 2800 victims of abuse and their children.
Little known facts about domestic abuse and Refuge:
1) 1:4 women and 1:6 will suffer domestic abuse in the course of their lives;
2) 2 women per week die as a direct consequence of domestic violence
3) 100,000 people in the highest catagory of risk associated with domestoc abuse: the risk of serious physical harm or death;
4) 130,000 children live in households where domestic abuse is prevalent;
5) The third most common cause of death for mother and child in pregnancy is domestic violence.
6) Two-thirds of occupancy in every Refuge are children under the age of 16 years.
These are staggering facts for the UK to come to terms with. Refuge have been a leading light in reforming the way in which domestic abuse is viewed and prioritised since 1971.
Refuge founded what is thought to be the world's first domestic abuse safe house - something that has been replicated since then throughout the world.
They give safe accomodation to victims, they provide counselling for children, and rehabilitation and support for parents.
The austerity of our times is a critical threat to the services that Refuge provide. Please help us, to help them, in the continuing fight against domestic abuse. Please give what you can reasonably afford,
Many thanks,
Phil Priestley
(on behalf of the Running4Refuge group)
