All funds raised for Roses 2023 charity partner directed to supporting students

As the new academic term starts, York-based sexual violence charity, Survive, has seen an increase in student survivors seeking their specialist support. Today, Survive CEO, Ms Mags Godderidge, announced that over £15,000 raised during the University of York Roses 23 sporting tournament in April will be directed to supporting student survivors.

Ms Godderidge said: “Recently, Survive has seen unprecedented demand for its trauma-informed services. Last year, students accounted for eight percent of the 933 new referrals, making up a significant survivor sub-group.

“With demand for our services at an all-time high, we found that too many students were waiting too long to access our specialist counselling service. As a direct result, we decided that all the £15,706 raised by students will go towards delivering counselling services to student survivors so that they can finds ways to cope and recover from what happened to them”.

Student fundraising for Survive was endorsed by the Vice Chancellors of the University of York and the University of Lancaster at the end of the sporting weekend when they each offered to match fund the total donations and contributions from the event participants and supporters, culminating in the record-breaking total.

A University of York Student Union spokesperson commented: “The student and staff community at the University have been delighted to get behind Survive and use our annual Roses tournament to shine a light on sexual violence in sport.

“The money fundraised shows extraordinary generosity that will change lives in many different ways right here in York. We could not be prouder of the legacy that this Roses tournament will leave behind.”

Research shows that young people aged 18 to 25 years-old are more likely than any other age group to be subjected to sexual violence or abuse and that being a student increases that risk.

Ms Godderidge added: “The new student pathway will allow student survivors to access an initial assessment and up to eight counselling sessions quickly. In line with the Victims’ Code, student survivors who do not want to share their student status can still self-refer to Survive or asked to be referred to Survive via the Supporting Victims Team. However, they will have to wait longer to be seen and, in some cases, that could be up to nine months due to current demand for our services.”

Survivors do not need to report the crime to the police to access Survive’s specialist services.

To access the new pathway, call 01904 638813 or visit survive-northyorks.org.uk/make-a-referral and state that you are a student at the University of York. Survive Helpline also supports those affected directly or indirectly by sexual violence and can be contacted 10am-12pm Mon-Thurs on freephone 0808 145 1887.