Today we are celebrating good news. RISE will be continuing to provide our groundbreaking LGBTQ+ Dispersed Refuge alongside providing specialist therapeutic wellbeing and recovery support for women and their children.
At the Brighton and Hove Council meeting last night the Council agreed to fund RISE almost £100k from the £606K provided by MHCLG to deliver over 12 months whilst they wait for a Needs Assessment to decide how funding will be allocated on a longer-term basis.
Our CEO, Jo Gough says,
“This is long awaited and very welcome news to help stabilise our crucial work.
We want to thank the strong women of #RiseUp, mostly survivors of domestic abuse, for their continued support to challenge the decisions made by our local Council and to bring the voice of survivors of abuse and violence to the decision-making table. They have asked important questions and pressed our Council to do the right thing.
We also want to acknowledge the cross-party collaboration and support for our essential work in Brighton and Hove and across Sussex.
After such a difficult 18 months due to the pandemic and the decommissioning of some of our services, RISE is pleased to offer essential services for women, children and LGBTQ+ people to help them stay safe and recover well.”
The Council meeting committed to use £241k to replace the funding that Stonewater had received for delivering support in Brighton Refuge and has committed to fund a Community Engagement role through East Sussex County Council.
As well as the above an amendment has confirmed that a ‘tender’ to fund a Housing IDVA role for the remainder of this financial year will be available soon. RISE has successfully delivered a Housing IDVA service in partnership with Law Stop and Key Change Locksmiths for four years. It is our intention to bid for this role as well as bidding for remaining funds as soon as the process becomes available.
We are sharing this news on the same day that a government review of policing violence against women and girls (VAWG) is found to be woefully inadequate and following the governments recently published strategy to prevent VAWG. Over the coming months RISE will be asking local decision-makers to refocus local strategic priorities and develop a comprehensive strategy to prevent violence and abuse of women and girls. We hope you will join us on this journey.
