On behalf of SurvivorsUK team and all the men who have been supported during the last months thanks to the money raised, thank you for saving their lives.
Radio 4’s listeners gave very generously to our appeal in July and raised an amazing £5,603, which gave us the chance to support even more sexually abused men through our specialist services.
An estimated 12,000 men are raped in the UK every year and 76,000 are sexually abused or assaulted. Male sexual abuse has a profound impact on those who experience it and can deeply affect men’s mental health and relationships. SurvivorsUK supports sexually abused men and their friends and family, no matter when the abuse happened, providing a national online chat, counselling, ISVA (Independent Sexual Violence Advisor) and groupwork in London.
The donations received have been used to support 12 men in a groupwork setting, most of them experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, social isolation, anxiety, suicidal feelings and difficulties with drugs and alcohol. The amount covered the entire cost of 6 groupwork sessions, or half a groupwork programme, equal to 36 hours of face-to-face contact with the charity’s specialist team of counsellors and groupwork coordinators.
During that time, the clients have had the opportunity to meet other survivors, breaking down isolation and stigma, to listen and share experiences, develop strategies to cope with trauma symptoms, as well as the ability to form mutually supportive and caring relationships, and building communities of support. They are all so thankful to those who donated and made it possible for them to join what they say is a “life-changing service” which has helped them “not feeling isolated anymore”, “understand my emotions, behavior, feelings” and “saved our lives”.
You can find out more about the charity .