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How #share7 sparked a fundraising partnership with RISE

Standing for Refuge, Information, Support and Education, RISE are a Sussex-based charity that support over 2,000 women and children affected by domestic abuse and violence every year. From their helpline to crisis accommodation, criminal and civil proceedings, counselling and support groups, re-housing, solicitors, financial guidance and much more, they were also the first LGB&T* refuge and support service in England.

In 2018 Tom Shaw, our former PPC Account Manager, chose to support RISE in our #share7 campaign. Here's why he nominated the Brighton-based domestic abuse charity:

“Being from Brighton it was really important for me to choose a local charity, where the donation can make a substantial difference to the work carried out. Based on this, and knowing how underfunded women’s refuges, support and shelter services, and domestic abuse prevention programmes are, RISE were an obvious choice for me. RISE provide desperately needed shelter and support for domestic abuse survivors in Sussex, and work towards a vision of a society without domestic abuse.”

We spoke to Nicola Davies, Fundraising & Communications Manager at RISE, to find out how the money raised from our #share7 campaign in 2018 is still changing the lives of women and their families in Brighton & Hove and East Sussex:

“The #share7 money was particularly valuable because many of our projects are grant-funded, which means they can only run for a finite amount of time which isn’t a very sustainable way of working and creates uncertainty when we know the funds are coming to an end. However the money that you donated went into our unrestricted funding pot, so we had the flexibility to spend it where the need was greatest. To that effect, it went towards funding what was a brand new post at the time – our Volunteer Coordinator.

“This role had a HUGE impact for us – particularly on the helpline which is one of our most over-subscribed services. The Volunteer Coordinator recruited 13 helpline volunteers who enabled us to:

  • Open the helpline on Wednesday evenings, for people who work full time or can’t call during the day, a service we’ve never been able to offer before
  • They have also removed the waiting list of people waiting for a call back, who haven’t been able to get through at the first time of calling
  • When people have needed to be called back, the volunteers make sure that this happens on the same or next day. This has led to an increase in the number of people who have contacted us via the helpline and gone on to access support from us, because they’re in a better position to engage
  • We are also able to provide a quicker response to professionals, and to friends and family members asking for advice and support

“For small charities like us, having an injection of unrestricted cash makes an enormous difference. We certainly consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have companies like Search Seven in our community.”

Since our #share7 campaign we’ve kept in touch with the charity and have formed a great relationship with Jo, Nicola and the rest of the team at RISE. In 2019 we worked on a fundraising initiative for their 9km race - the #SuperheroesRISEup challenge event. The campaign encouraged businesses to sponsor a kilometre marker, complete with a superhero branded up in their company colours. The campaign raised a fantastic £1,800 for the charity. Visit the RISE website to find out more about the Heroes Run 2020 event.

Search Seven Managing Director, Gavin Willis talks about why continuing to support RISE is so important to him:

“After supporting RISE as part of the #share7 campaign in 2018, and working with them throughout 2019, we are delighted to be supporting them once again through our #share77k campaign and adding them to our list of 10 charities who will receive a share of the money we raise from our fundraising efforts throughout 2020 and 2021. Following the #share7 campaign we kept in touch with the RISE team and have been to several charity events together. It’s been fantastic seeing the money support them in such a tangible way, and I can’t wait to see how much we can raise for them by the end of 2021.”

Visit the RISE website to find out more about their vital support services.