Home is where the harm is

Aim

This winter, we’re delivering emergency grants to help people escape domestic abuse. Act now and your support could offer them a lifeline.

This is hard to read, but it is even harder to escape an abuser and the violence and coercion that people in the UK face. They’re trapped.

This winter, we’re aiming to raise another £20,000 to provide emergency grants for people escaping domestic abuse. And thanks to match funding on Crowdfunder, every pound you give will be doubled to help even more people find safety.

Last year, we raised over £30,000, including £18,000 in match funding for our ‘Home Is Where the Harm Is’ campaign, which helped provide immediate support for adults and children escaping abuse.

The impact of last year’s funding:

• 136 people received £200 emergency grants
• 100% of funds were distributed within 48 hours
• 98% said the support made a real difference to their situation

Real stories of real impact:

“It has helped beyond words. Fleeing domestic violence puts you in an awful and difficult situation — not just with the abuse but having to start afresh with nothing, especially with two children under the age of three. I can’t thank this charity enough for what they have done.”

“We’ve moved from a refuge and didn’t have a bed for my child. He was sharing a mattress on the floor with me. It has made our life so much easier being able to buy him a bed.”

“They really helped, I was struggling to do a food shop and feed my family, after a tough 7 months of back and forth to court and numerous appointments the funds took the stress away of worrying about that as well. I can’t thank you enough.”

Stories like this show how vital your support is. Donate today and your gift will be doubled, helping more people find safety and rebuild their lives.

Donate to the fund - A donation, no matter how small, will help a victim in immediate need.

• A donation of £10 could pay for phone credit which will help with organising appointments with a GP, housing or support workers. 
  
  
• A donation of £25 could pay for a bus or train fare to safety.
  
  
• A donation of £50 could pay for essential baby food and toiletries when access to a bank account has been denied.
  
  
• A donation of £100 could pay for a night in emergency accommodation when there is nowhere else to go.

Donate monthly to this cause - Once you have donated, you will have the option to set up a regular monthly donation to the National Benevolent Charity in order to help more victims all year round.

Share the appeal - posting on your socials, sharing with your network or even word of mouth will help to spread awareness of the campaign.

All donations will go to the National Benevolent Charity, where we will provide a cash grant to help victims flee or to establish a new life in a safer environment. Very often adults and children have to leave everything they own behind.

At the NBC we are there to help provide:

• Fast access to cash to help victims
• Purchase of white goods (eg. fridge, freezer, microwave, washing machine or cookers) for people as they rebuild their lives
• Essential household goods e.g. bedding and beds, bedroom furniture, kitchen equipment
• Food and clothing
• Support in paying for priority debts including Gas, Electric, Water and Council Tax
• Support to pay for bankruptcy costs or a debt relief orders
• Help to pay for education, training or purchasing of work tools.

This new initiative aims to swiftly and discretely provide financial support to victims of domestic abuse through a small grant that will provide a chance to take steps to independence from their abusers.

It is backed by the National Benevolent Charity and brings together three award-winning tech-for-good platforms for the first time.

Crowdfunder is hosting the appeal to generate funds for support victims.

Lightning Reach is providing the application infrastructure for those in need to apply for this fund and find other sources of support.

Cash Perks will utilise their emergency cash payment system, available through ATMs, to deliver funds to those who need it immediately.



This means that for the first time your donation to the NBC can be withdrawn from cash points across the country by victims of Domestic Abuse. As many victims in situations often have no access to bank accounts or cash to help escape their current situation. Meaning your donation can have a real impact.

Sarah (43) is a single mum to 5-year-old Jane who is diagnosed with ADHD and Autism. Following Sarah's decision to leave an abusive domestic relationship, she was rehoused. However, her ex-partner had control of all of her finances, where he had not paid any of the bills in her name and was running up serious debts in these accounts, alongside false benefits claims in Sarah's name. 

As a result of the false claims, Sarah faced the situation where Universal Credit was making deductions from her benefits payments until all her debts were repaid. Sarah was also then put into a repayment plan with her previous energy provider, leaving her very short of money following her decision to leave, making moving on for Sarah and Jane incredibly difficult. 

At NBC, we are able to provide £200 towards repaying Sarah's utility bills and help with a £200 food voucher. Providing breathing room for Sarah to get back on track and ensuring at that point, she didn't have to choose between her bills and food for her child.

How many people in these situations can we help?

References

* Refuge. Facts and statistics.
** SafeLives. (2023). Marac national dataset, SafeLives: Bristol.

ª All recipients of any cash grants will be required to go through a quick approval process before receipt of any money.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made