Female volunteers needed for new Rape Crisis service

Lincoln advertising and PR graduate Sally Rate is looking for volunteers to set up a Lincoln Rape Crisis centre to help victims of sexual assault.

Rape Crisis is a national feminist organisation which aims to provide counselling and aid to victims of sexual assault.
Rate left Peterborough Rape Crisis to begin setting up a sister service in Lincoln where she feels it is badly needed. “We need to form a core steering group of people to build the service from the ground up,” she said.

“If you don’t want to be on the frontline, there’s a place for many different skills including fundraising, accounting and marketing as well as counselling.”

Rate said she has three long-term aims for the service beginning with a helpline, moving on to a face-to-face support centre and finally spreading across Lincolnshire to Boston and Skegness.

“You can physically see that weight lift of a person’s shoulder when you see them really turn a corner,” she said. Rate described her 18 months working for Peterborough Rape Crisis as ‘the most amazing and worthwhile’ time of her life.

“No-one wants to talk about sexual assault,” she said, “People just go ‘oh it’s just something that happens’ but it shouldn’t be like that.”

The only rape counselling service in Lincoln is the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) which is situated on Dean Road on the outskirts of the city centre.

“Where the SARC finished, that’s where we start,” explained Rate. “Rape Crisis provides long term help and support and safe place run by women for women.”

There will be a meeting held to look for potential volunteers on Thursday, November 3rd in the Learning Landscapes room (MB1019) in the Main Admin Building at the University of Lincoln. The meeting starts at 7pm anyone is welcome to attend whether they can give 1 or 20 hours a week to the cause.