A Harrogate charity is appealing for donations that will be doubled through a national fundraising campaign.
New Beginnings Peer Support, which supports women who have left abusive relationships, has been selected for the Big Give Women and Girls Match Fund.
The charity hopes to raise £3,750 in public donations, which will be matched to provide £7,500 towards its work across North Yorkshire.
The campaign coincides with Domestic Abuse Awareness Month and runs until midday on Tuesday 13th October.
Lindsay Oliver, CEO of New Beginnings Peer Support, said:
“We are absolutely thrilled to have been selected by the Big Give Women and Girls Match Fund this year.
“It's a chance to double the difference. Even a pound makes a difference because that doubles to two.
“Anything helps at this point and it's really going to help us get support across North Yorkshire.”
The charity helps women rebuild their lives and overcome the lasting impact of domestic abuse.
Lindsay said the funding will help its staff and volunteers reach more women across the county.
She said:
“We all know North Yorkshire is a vast, vast county. It's very rural, it's coastal.
“It's very challenging for us to get across to outreach, so we need the funds to make sure that we can get our workers and our volunteers actually in front of the people that need the support.”
At the time of speaking to Your Harrogate, the campaign had raised £1,200 towards its £7,500 target.
Lindsay is also calling on local businesses to help reach the target before the deadline.
She said:
“We really, really desperately need more donations coming in.
“We need some big businesses to get involved, doing a couple of hundred quid here and there. That really gets us to our total much quicker.
“Thank you to everyone that's donated so far and keep the donations coming.”
New Beginnings Peer Support is also preparing to launch its annual Christmas appeal on 2nd November.
The charity is asking the women it supports what their families need most, with plans to provide gifts for children and teenagers alongside food support.
Lindsay said:
“We will be doing gift support and food support for our clients.
“It will be around specific gift support for the children in need, both children and teenagers, because the teenagers get left out quite a lot.
“And also food support, so things like your Christmas luxury biscuits or your stuffing for your Christmas dinner.”
The charity is reminding women that they can access support regardless of how long ago they left an abusive relationship.
Lindsay added:
“Any woman that has left the relationship and is no longer residing in the same home, we can support.
“We will support you if you've left relatively recently, or it might be that you've left years ago and the impact of that relationship is still detrimental in your daily life.
“We're there to support you through that.”
Anyone wishing to donate can find the Big Give fundraising link through the New Beginnings Peer Support website or its social media channels.
Donations must be made before midday on Tuesday 13th October to qualify for match funding.
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