Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

You might already know that a group of women volunteers has been working hard over the past 18 months to set up a new Rape Crisis charity for the city where we live, Support After Rape & Sexual Violence Leeds (SARSVL).  Leeds has been without a specialist support service for women and girls whose lives have been affected by sexual violence for around 8 years now and everyone involved with SARSVL is passionate about filling that gap, and about working closely with existing organisations to make sure that the needs, rights and interests of victims and survivors are fully met, realised and promoted.

In April this year, we launched our first direct service, a confidential telephone helpline for women and girls who have been affected by any kind of sexual violence at any time in their lives.  Over the next two years, we plan to extend the helpline's opening hours and to develop a full range of Rape Crisis services, including face-to-face support and advocacy.

We've already been overwhelmed by the goodwill of individuals and organisations who recognise the great need for SARSVL, and a few hugely valued supporters have already raised much-appreciated funds for us, without even the helpful tool of this new JustGiving page.

But SARSVL is a charity with no mainstream funding or major grants as yet, and we depend entirely on the commitment of volunteers, and the generosity of people like you, to do our work.

Which is why this team of us (some more willingly and energetically than others) now find ourselves just a few weeks from running Jane Tomlinson's Leeds 10k Run for All, and asking for your sponsorship.

Every penny you can spare will make a big difference to SARSVL, and to the women and girls we work with, and will be spent on basic costs such as rent, publicity and telephone bills.

Another extremely useful way you can help us, is to let people know about SARSVL, so please do share the link to this page, and/or to our website at www.supportafterrapeleeds.org.uk , with anyone and everyone you know.

Finally, on an entirely personal note, I want to share with you that I am not a runner, that I don't enjoy running even the tiniest amount and that, while 10k is nothing to many people, the prospect of this run fills me with horror.  All of which, I hope, will give you some idea of how very close this cause and this organisation are to my heart.