Survive is the only accredited sexual violence charity serving York and North Yorkshire delivering free-of-charge support work, counselling, trauma therapy and EMDR psychotherapy to adult survivors of rape, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse.

In May this year, the charity made the deeply difficult decision to temporarily close its waiting list to survivors contacting the charity directly, meaning only those referred to Survive by the Supporting Victims Team (funded by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority) have been able to access Survive services and interventions.

Says Survive’s founder, Ruth, “It means a great deal to me that Survive is still around supporting survivors, so many decades after it was established. I initiated the set up of Survive because of my own experience – finding it so difficult to get appropriate, timely support when I needed it, from people who understood the complex long term impacts of childhood sexual abuse. It was hard to take in that Survive is having to curtail its services and close the doors to some survivors to timely help. Funding support is vital for this essential service – it will pay back many times over, both to individuals and society”.

Earlier this year, a new tool released by VISION showed that the average lifetime cost of a survivor in York and North Yorkshire was £267,000. Last year, Survive supported 1,913 survivors and delivered 5375 therapy hours within a budget of £602,000.

Says CEO Mags Godderidge: “Recently, our data has been independently analysed, and the outcome shows what our team already knew – our services and interventions work. We help survivors to heal and move forward with their lives and, because of our positive impact on their mental health, we also reduce future reliance on overstretched NHS services. We know it takes adults survivors of child sexual abuse decades to tell someone what happened to them and that they prefer to access services direct from specialist agencies like Survive and not go through a third-party. We urgently need long-term strategic funding to get our waiting list open to all survivors and to keep it open. Survivors deserve better”.

Many survivors of sexual violence and abuse are living with psychological distress and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms like nightmares, flashbacks and panic attacks as well as anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and self-harming behaviours. These symptoms can worsen without specialist support – affecting employment, finances, education, relationships, and self-care.

Despite successfully reducing their waiting list from 700 adult survivors to under 400 in the past six months, Survive still faces an uncertain future.

This is the first time in the charity’s 35 years of service that it has closed its waiting list. It comes in response to high demand, increased costs, and chronic underfunding of the sexual violence sector.

Local MP, Rachael Maskell says: “Investing in funding for the sexual violence sector not only makes a tangible difference to survivors but saves the state significant sums of money. It is a travesty that funding has not been found to re-open the waiting lists for York and North Yorkshire’s charity, Survive.

“I urge health, police and Government to understand the importance of the sector, and find a solution to this funding crisis. Commissioning a pathway for victims who report and do not report to the police through to specialist counselling and onto services which can help survivors regain confidence are crucial. Long term, sufficient funding must be prioritised.”

Says Survive founder, Ruth, “During my time with Survive I witnessed the huge benefits to survivors that can emerge from this support, ranging from finding the strength to manage one day at a time; gaining insight into behaviours and relationships; growing in self-confidence to embark on training and build careers and new ways of being. The positive impacts are immeasurable… life-changing”.

Survive’s services and interventions are proven to reduce psychological distress and trauma symptoms and help survivors to cope with everyday life. Despite the waiting list for new unfunded referrals temporarily closing, Survive is very much open – delivering specialist services to more than 100 survivors each week. The helpline is also still available Mon-Thurs from 10am – 12 noon on 0808 145 1887, free of charge.

To support Survive and survivors of sexual violence, please donate to Survive’s ’35 Years of Healing’ fundraising campaign: www.justgiving.com/campaign/35yearsofhealing