So, who's up for a challenge?

What is it?
From the 18th-22nd March we’re running an event and sponsored silence, “217 Hours”, to try and break the stigma and silence surrounding sexual assault. Throughout the week the aim is to raise awareness of sexual assault, services and facilities that can help, as well as fundraising for local charities (First Step and Jasmine House). We will be asking people to pledge to remain silent for however many hours they can to reach a total over 217 hours across the week.

Why 217 hours?
This works out to be a minute of silence for every Leicester student who would be sexually assaulted on campus throughout their time at University. According to a recent survey 62% of students will be sexually assaulted on campuses during their time at University (Rape Crisis). There are 21,000 students that go to the University of Leicester, so roughly 13,020 students will get sexually assaulted. We are doing a minute’s silence for each of these students, which works out to be 217 hours.

How do I get involved?
Register your interest online here: https://goo.gl/forms/oN7XWFIc7I4MXxlo2 and we'll get in touch with more details. Pledge silence, donate money, share this event to your friends or come along to (or volunteer on) one of our daily SU stalls where you can get raffle tickets or find out more information!
For more information, you can message or email Sarah Veale (sv154@student.le.ac.uk) and Izzy Woolrych (iw62@le.ac.uk). Find out Facebook events page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/601031733657257/.

How/where can I log hours?
You'll need to log your hours online so that we can track how close we are to reaching our target. You can log them on this google form: https://goo.gl/forms/BdsIT52L7iDZFTps1

When?
We will run the challenge over 5 days (18th- 22nd of March) to reach a collective total of 217 hours of silence. We need to get about 44 hours in per day. Will you get involved?

Where can I do it?
You can do this anywhere, anytime (in lectures, at the gym, at work, with your friends etc.), but try to also raise awareness by posting on social media with the hashtag #stayingsilentsoyoudonthaveto or #217hours. 

Is it sponsored?
Yes! The main aim is to raise awareness, but throughout the week, we will be raising money for local charities First Step & Jasmine House, which provide free confidential support and advice for survivors of rape or sexual assault. You can raise money by getting people to sponsor your silence, by donating at our daily stalls, taking part in the raffle, or donating online here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/217hours

So, are you up for the challenge?
Think you could do 4 hours of silence every day for 5 days? If so, that would be almost 10% of our goal done! Every little helps, even if it's only half an hour each night!

Need support?
Check these links out:
- https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/counselling
- https://leics.police.uk/report-online
- https://leicestersexualhealth.nhs.uk/leicester-sexual-health/sexual-assault
- https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/help-after-rape-and-sexual-assault/
- https://www.itv.com/thismorning/rape-helplines

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.