Survive is commissioned by the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire to deliver specialist counselling / talking therapy support to any adult victim of crime in Craven, Harrogate, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Selby and the City of York*.

*Services in Scarborough and Ryedale are provided by Community Counselling

This free service consists of an initial assessment and up to 10 counselling sessions, provided by Survive to survivors of sexual and/or domestic violence and supported by Community Counselling for victims of other serious crimes.

The crime does not need to have been reported to the police in order to access the service and can be for recent crimes as well as for crimes committed a long time ago such as Child Sexual Abuse.

Supporting Victims in North Yorkshire can be contacted on 01609 643 100 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.  Calls are charged at the standard rate for landlines and mobiles.

Survive works with Community Counselling to provide a range of services for adults living in Ryedale who have been affected directly or indirectly by sexual violence. This joint project is funded by the Lloyds Bank Foundation.

Community Counselling provides longer-term counselling and, where appropriate, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)  – a NICE approved treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Clients can be referred by any statutory or voluntary agency or can self-refer by contacting Community Counselling on 01653 690 124 or emailing info@community-counselling.org.uk

Survive provides Support Work. This 1-1 emotional and practical support is available to survivors of sexual violence as well as to their parents, partners, carers, friends and other family members. Support Work is delivered in up to six 1-1 appointments either face-to-face or over the telephone or video call every two to four weeks for up to six months Support work can complement counselling, however, you cannot access Survive Support Work and Counselling from Community Counselling at the same time.

Survive also works with Community Counselling to provide counselling support to Victims of Crime.

Postcode Neighbourhood Trust is a grant-giving charity funded entirely by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Survive received just under £20,000 from Postcode Neighbourhood Trust in December last year to contribute towards the costs of delivering specialist services to survivors of sexual violence.

Survive has secured three grants to deliver its specialist Support Work and Counselling services to survivors of sexual violence living in the YO41, YO42 and YO43 postcodes of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The pilot is being funded by Hull and East Riding Charitable Trust, the Lapa Charitable Trust and the Assura Community Fund, administered by Cheshire Community Foundation.

Last year, Survive signed a Statement of Intent to work collaboratively in tackling male violence against women and girls.

It followed the publication of an interim report by HM Inspectors that called for radical action to tackle the ‘stark and shocking’ level of violence against women and girls. The report urged police forces and partner agencies to build on current momentum to improve the service and support offered to those affected by these crimes, and enhance their capability and capacity to pursue and disrupt adult perpetrators of violent offences to reduce and prevent the harms they are causing.

The Humber region ranks fifth nationally for numbers of recorded domestic abuse, with around 75% of the total number of offences being against women. Nationally, annual data from the last two Crime Surveys for England and Wales, shows that women are the victims of 84% of all sexual offences, rising to 90% of all reported offences of rape.

Mags Godderidge, the Chief Executive Officer of Survive said:

“We know there are survivors of sexual violence living in the YO41, YO42 and YO43 postcodes of East Riding of Yorkshire who until recently, had to travel to York to access Survive services. Thanks to these grants, we can now advertise and deliver our specialist trauma-informed support work and counselling face-to-face, online or over the telephone to survivors living in the Pocklington area.

The Noble Charitable Trust was formed in order to provide a formal structure for donating to worthy causes in the designated areas of North Yorkshire, Teesside and Cumbria. The trust donated £2,000 to Survive in 2022.