Help Abused Young Women get Justice in Leeds

Hello all,

We want to start by saying a huge thank you for all the support you’ve given to our charity.

It’s thanks to the generosity of our supporters that we’re able to continue supporting women and families to live a life free from abuse and fear.

To stay updated on the work of our charity, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: facebook.com/leedswomensaid

Twitter: @LeedsWomensAid

Instagram: @LeedsWomensAid

Thank You for Your Amazing Christmas Gifts!

We understand that throughout the country, families have been struggling under the rise of the cost of living. Despite this, our supporters have continued to donate kind and thoughtful items to the women, children and families we support throughout our various services.

We like to extend a huge Thank You to our supporters who donated during the Christmas period. We have been absolutely blown away by your generosity.

“Huge thank you for donating items to the women’s Winter Warmth event. We were delighted and totally overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of the LWA supporters, who really came through for us, responding to the call out and donating. The gifts were lovely, and the women who received them were very grateful and appreciative” – Emily, WLL Project Manager & WLL VOICES Co-Ordinator

“The generosity of the people who sent the most thoughtful and incredible gifts to our families in refuge have made such a huge difference at this really challenging time of year. We managed to give every woman a well-being gift and every child a number of fantastic toys and books which they were all very grateful for. This started 2023 in a really positive light in their journey to happiness”— Marnie, Team Leader (Children and Families)

Make A Will Month

This March, Leeds Women’s Aid is delighted to be partnering with a number of local solicitors to run our annual Make a Will Month. This campaign gives oursupporters the opportunity to have their Will written or updated without havingto pay the usual fees. Instead you will be invited to make a voluntary donationto our charity, helping support women and children affected by domesticviolence & abuse.

Places are limited, so if you are interested in taking part, please get in touchwith our Fundraising Team as soon as possible at: Fundraising@LeedsWomensAid.org.uk

Best wishes,

Nik

Hello all,

We want to start by saying a huge thank you for all the support you’ve given to our charity.

It’s thanks to the generosity of our supporters that we’re able to continue supporting women and families to live a life free from abuse and fear.

To stay updated on the work of our charity, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: facebook.com/leedswomensaid

Twitter: @LeedsWomensAid

Instagram: @LeedsWomensAid

Celebrating our 50^th Anniversary

On Thursday 6th October, over 150 of our supporters and stakeholders came together to celebrate our 50th anniversary. The event, hosted by our Chief Executive, Nik Peasgood, and our Chair of Trustees, Nneka Ikeogu, was a great success giving guests the opportunity to talk to and meet current and former staff and trustees.

Three inspiring speakers: Rachel Reeves MP (LWA Patron); Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales; and Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid Federation England, spoke about what Leeds Women’s Aid means to them and how the challenge of domestic violence and abuse remains despite the progress in recent years. We also had a performance from the singer-songwriter, Manuka, who finished off the event in style, to huge cheers and much appreciation.

Thank you to everyone who attended the celebration and helped make it such an amazing event.

Thank you for helping us reach our fundraising target!

We are delighted to announce that our public appeal has now reached its fundraising target of £10,000. This money has gone towards the fundraising campaign for the children’s play area for the women and families at our Emmeline refuge. A big thank you to everyone who made a donation. We are very grateful for your generosity.

We are now getting closer to achieving our overall goal of £50,000 to complete our 50^th anniversary appeal towards the refurbishment of the garden at our Emmeline refuge. This is thanks to our public appeal, grants, and generous donations from organisations and individuals.

Latest news from our Leeds Women’s Aid Charity Shop

Our charity shop is all ready for Winter with lovely chunky knits, cosy coats and woolly hats, gloves and scarves all available in store. Our Leeds Women’s Aid charity Christmas cards are also now on sale.

Seasonal Christmas stock including festive jumper and partywear will also be available to buy in store by the end of the month.

Christmas Gift Appeal

If you are interested in donating Christmas gifts to the women and families we support, please contact us on: fundraising@leedswomensaid.org.uk

Best wishes,

Nik

July 2022 GlobalGiving Report:

Leeds Women’s Aid 50^th Anniversary

50 years of service is a remarkable milestone and we would like to say a special thank you to everyone who have given us incredible support over the years:

• All our individual supporters who have donated, fundraised and given amazing gifts & donations. Including all our supporters from the GlobalGiving Community.
• Our business partners & community groups
• All the grant-making trusts & foundations who have enabled us to continue fund vital projects.

Finally, we would especially like to thank all our dedicated past and current staff and volunteers who have helped us achieve this amazing milestone.      

The Work We do

• We support 1000s of women and children across all the services we manage, including our IDVA service, group support programme and drop-in.
• On average each year, we work with 119 adults and 130 children and young people in the refuges we manage.
• On average each year, we support over 7000 people on telephone calls through the 24 hour helpline we manage and support

A note from Our CEO, Nik Peasgood

50 years is a massive achievement for any organization, but for a charity, it’s incredible. The 1970s were such a different time to now but in many ways there are some constants: our staff’s desire and passion to help and support women and children, a committed and knowledgeable board, huge demand for services.

Thankfully, in 2022, there are now laws around domestic violence and abuse. It is no longer the forbidden taboo and violence against women and girls is openly spoken about. However, we aren’t complacent; we know there is still so much to do. Demand is at an all-time high, people are more encouraged to speak out and ask for support, so we are as relevant, if not more, for the next 50 years than ever before.

Hopefully one day, there will be no need for our work, but until then, we’ll continue to be: Exceptional, Courageous, Inclusive, Inspirational and Responsive.

- Nik Peasgood, Chief Executive

Fundraising Appeal - New children outdoor play area and dedicated tranquil garden space

We are so close to hitting our goal on our 50th Anniversary Fundraising Appeal - New children outdoor play area and dedicated tranquil garden space. We’ve currently raised just under £43,901

of our £50,000 goal! We like to give a massively thank you to all our supporters.

This project looks to raise funds to restore and refurbish our outdoor area at our Emmeline refuge, creating a new, modern and safe children’s outdoor play area and dedicated tranquil garden space for our residents to rest, recover and connect with others. This outdoor space for families to spend time together in will help as part of their recovery from the effects of domestic violence and abuse.

We are currently raising funds through our appeal page, trust applications and other fundraising activities.All donations will make such a huge difference to the families we support.

Please see our website for details of how to give. Thank you.

To stay updated on the work of our charity, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: facebook.com/leedswomensaid

Twitter: @LeedsWomensAid

Instagram: @LeedsWomensAid

Hello all,

As this year is our 50^th anniversary, we’re extremely proud of the work we’ve done and appreciative of the support that helped us get here. Thank you.

To stay updated on the work of our charity, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: facebook.com/leedswomensaid

Twitter: @LeedsWomensAid

Instagram: @LeedsWomensAid

Leeds Women’s Aid 50^th Anniversary Fundraising Appeal - New children outdoor play area and dedicated tranquil garden space

We’ve had a fantastic response for our 50th Anniversary fundraising appeal. To date over £4,000 has been raised in donations! We are grateful for your goodwill and support.

This project looks to raise funds to restore and refurbish our outdoor area at our Emmeline refuge, creating a new, modern and safe children’s outdoor play area and dedicated tranquil garden space for our residents to rest, recover and connect with others. This outdoor space for families to spend time together in will help as part of their recovery from the effects of domestic violence and abuse.

The total cost of the project is £50,000. We are currently raising funds through our appeal page, trust applications and other fundraising activities.All donations will make such a huge difference to the families we support.

Please see our website for details of how to give. Thank you.

Call out for Memories

Do you have memories of Leeds Women’s Aid’s from the last 50 years?

We are collecting memories to share in honour of our 50th Anniversary and we’d love you to be a part of it! Whether you worked with us, as a staff member or trustee, have supported us or have been involved in our work in any way over the past five decades, we would love to hear from you. To get in touch, please email: fundraising@leedswomensaid.org.uk. Stories will remain anonymous upon request.

Fundraising

Are you looking to set yourself a new challenge in 2022? During our 50th year in action, we are asking our supporters to get involved in fundraising challenges to help us reach our overall appeal target of £50,000. Whatever you’re thinking of doing, we would love to hear your ideas and help you make you make them a reality. If you would like to get involved, please email: fundraising@leedswomensaid.org.uk

Sincerely,

The Leeds Women’s Aid Team

Hello all,

We want to start by again saying a huge thank you for all the amazing support you’ve given us throughout 2021. Though the world is beginning to adapt and recover, this has still been a year like no other and we appreciate all support that has been given to Leeds Women’s Aid.

To stay updated on the work of our charity, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: facebook.com/leedswomensaid

Twitter: @LeedsWomensAid

Instagram: @LeedsWomensAid

Reverse Advent Calendar

This Christmas, we are running a Reverse Advent Calendar to launch our 50^th anniversary fundraising appeal for a new children’s playground for one of our refuges. Each day throughout advent we are asking our supporters to give whatever they can, from £1 on Dec 1 up to £24 on Dec 24, to help us kick off our campaign and continue providing the very best support to women and families affected by domestic violence and abuse.

Please see our website for details of how to give. All donations will make such a huge difference to the families we support.

Leeds Women’s Aid 50^th Anniversary Fundraising Appeal - New children outdoor play area and dedicated tranquil garden space

2022 marks Leeds Women’s Aid 50^th year. To mark this amazing milestone we are launching a fundraising appeal to raise funds for a new children’s outdoor play area and dedicated tranquil garden space for our residents to rest, recover and connect with others.

Leeds Women’s Aid delivers a wide range of services for families experiencing domestic violence and abuse including emergency refuge accommodation and currently we run a number of women-only refuges along with independent safe houses for adults and children. Emmeline is our largest refuge and all of its living accommodation is separate and self-contained, but we have communal areas for the families and a large outside space. The current children’s play equipment at Emmeline is old, some of it is broken and well-worn and needs replacing to allow the families to make full use of the gardens to play and feel safe. Residents said a garden is important for them, with one resident valuing the outdoor space as "a place I can connect with my children”.

The project will involve taking out the old play equipment and replacing with new safe, modern play equipment to ensure the gardens have a safe environment. The project would allow us to offer a safe and fun outdoor space for the children to play and interact with other families in refuge which will help as part of their recovery from the effects of domestic violence and abuse. In addition, we would like to provide a dedicated tranquil space within the garden for the women which would include installing a wooden pergola, seating area and suitable bedding plants.

We would love to raise £50,000 to complete the refurbishment of Emmeline’s garden.

Please see our website for details of how to give.

Children’s and Young People’s Pages

This year, Leeds Women’s Aid launched four specialist webpages tailored to support children and young people affected by domestic violence and abuse in their families or own relationships. These pages provide vital information on recognising the signs of domestic violence and abuse, calling the police and support helplines, and understanding other children and young people’s experiences to help them find support and feel less alone.

To find out more, please visit the Leeds Women’s Aid website: https://leedswomensaid.co.uk/children/.

All donations we will make such a huge difference to the families we support.

Thank you and have a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Sincerely,

The Leeds Women’s Aid Team