Apollo Employees Donation Matching Program Link:

https://apollo.benevity.org/cause/826-1085104

Hello everyone.

As many of you already know I am launching a long overdue follow-up fundraising for a sexual violence survivor support centr in South London. It is the largest crisis center in London, and one of around 50 across the UK.

Highly qualified professionals provide trauma counselling to help people rebuild their lives and re-integrate with society, as well as support for those going through the criminal justice process. The center is currently seeing around 500 women and girls, but has another 200+ on the waiting list.

Despite being a leading center serving a significant part of the London area, it still miraculously struggles to get enough government funding, and relies dearly on recurring private funding, and one-off donations.

In 2017 many of you were incredibly generous and we collectively raised over £10k which funded the launch of a pilot program to extend the center's services to children from the age of 5. This initiative couldn’t get public funding at that time as it was challenging to get people to engage in the topic of sexual violence against children, and additionally it is still broadly not fully understood the catastrophic impact these crimes have on people’s lives. However, the success of the pilot we funded translated into a long-term NHS/government funding commitment, which is obviously a fantastic outcome for everyone. It is helpful to see the NHS seeking to improve on its historical record of ineffective management and funding for this critical area. Thank you so much again to many of you for that great triumph.

The center is now launching a community outreach program to amplify this success. By adding a professional trained in identifying survivors in ‘at risk’ segments of society, the center’s support services can be accessed by people who need it the most - those who are often too scared to seek help, too young to know they need help, or simply lack awareness of what’s available to them.

The center has recently found an outreach worker, but has only been able to ring-fence ~50% of the required funding. I am seeking to raise enough money to fill the gap - and I provide this note to kindly ask if you would consider contributing. To help tickle your wallet (and multiply the money I am able to commit to this cause) I am doing the Marathon des Sables in April, which is a 250km self-supported foot race in the Sahara desert. It's 6 days' running through sand in 35-45c heat carrying a 10kg backpack. So I’m trading ulcers and anguish for generosity!

If you would like to learn more about this charity please see the following link: www.rasasc.org.uk, or get in touch. The following national umbrella organization also contains more information about this cause/area: https://rapecrisis.org.uk/.

I am of course funding 100% of the race so all proceeds will go to this charity.

Apollo employees please follow the matching program link at the top.

Thanks a million for anything you can give - donations, words of encouragement, or tips for the race - it’s all hugely appreciated.

https://www.marathondessables.com/en

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