RISE Five-year Strategic Aims 2024 to 2029

“I want to thank RISE for supporting me and my children through a long, horrendous period. Without RISE, I would be even more broken and so would my children, and likely their future children/future partners. Although the light at the end of the tunnel is still a long way away, at least there is light now. 2 years ago, there was none. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Unchanged in our 2024-2029 strategic plan are our charitable objectives, the purposes of our services, our core values, and our vision for the future: these are still at our heart.

The Charity’s objects (the “Objects”) are specifically restricted to:

Relieve the poverty, sickness, distress and suffering experienced by those who are abused, and survivors of abuse and violence and in particular women, LGBT, children, young people, and families who have been impacted by domestic and sexual abuse and violence.

Our vision: ‘Freedom from Abuse and Violence’

Our core values: RISE is a feminist, women-led and centred domestic and sexual violence and abuse charity that has worked for 30 years to end all forms of violence and abuse against women, their families and those identifying as LGBT.

Our service commitment: RISE offers strength-based, trauma-informed services and is committed to providing accessible, fair, and safe services to survivors of violence and abuse, including women of all ages, children, young people, Trans and Non-binary people, Lesbians and Bisexual women, Gay and Bisexual men, Black and minoritised women, women with religious affiliations or none, Disabled women and other minoritised women.

RISE stands for Refuge, Information, Support and Education.

Unchanged is our commitment to journey together with survivors to support them in their recovery and emancipation from domestic abuse and violence. The services we provide evolve as we learn what they need and how our work helps them. We are a specialist service because we listen, we learn, and we work collaboratively with survivors to ensure our services lead to the outcomes and impacts they want. We are deeply embedded in the locality and understand the challenges survivors face. This is how we know that working in communities, speaking out about domestic and sexual abuse and violence, and challenging the failures in the systems survivors have to deal with, are central to our mission.

We adopt as a central principle that survivors are at the front and in the centre of all we do. This leads us to the following imperatives in the achievement of all four strategic aims:

• Women, children and LGBT survivors of abuse and violence are and will be actively involved across all layers of RISE, in the design, delivery, and evaluation of RISE's services, fostering a sense of ownership.
• We will continue to develop and implement survivor-led panels, support groups and peer mentoring programs to facilitate solidarity, mutual support, and collective healing.
• We will seek to enhance our provision of comprehensive, wrap-around support services that address the diverse needs of survivors at all ages and at all stages of their journey, from early intervention, through crisis to long-term recovery, so that they feel in charge of their own life choices and feel, and are, freed from abuse and violence.

Objective 1.1: Create safe spaces and opportunities for survivors to connect with each other in solidarity as peers and with the broader community, fostering a sense of belonging and social connection.

Objective 1.2: Forge strategic collaborations with local community organisations, residents, businesses, and government agencies to strengthen RISE's presence and impact within the community to reach women, children and LGBT survivors that are currently underserved.

Objective 1.3: Establish community outreach initiatives and engagement programs to raise awareness about domestic and sexual violence and abuse and promote a culture of prevention and recovery.

Objective 2.1: Advocate for systemic change and policy reforms that use a feminist analysis to address the root causes of domestic and sexual violence and abuse, including sex inequality, discrimination, and social injustice.

Objective 2.2: Mobilise community members, national specialists, allies, and stakeholders to participate in grassroots activism, public awareness campaigns, and advocacy efforts aimed at challenging societal norms and promoting sex equality.

Objective 2.3: Amplify the voices and experiences of survivors in the public discourse, media, and policymaking arenas to drive meaningful change and promote a culture of accountability and justice.

Objective 2.4: Build feminist, activist campaigning in schools focussed on root causes of sex-based discrimination and abuse prevention with young people leading the way.

Objective 3.1: Acquire and establish permanent, dedicated facilities, including a Refuge, office space, and community centre, to ensure continuity and stability in service provision.

Objective 3.2: Develop and implement a sustainable funding strategy that diversifies revenue streams, including grants, donations, gift aid, pay roll giving, legacy gifts and earned income from business development, selling RISE's expertise and resources.

Objective 3.3: Invest in technological infrastructure and digital capabilities, leveraging AI and mobile applications to enhance service delivery, outreach, and accessibility for survivors and community members alike.

Objective 4.1: Maintain independence from external influences to uphold RISE's feminist principles and commitment to survivor-centred advocacy and support.

Objective 4.2: Deliver expert specialist services - providing domestic and sexual abuse services by, for and centring women as part of a national network and a global movement to end violence against women and girls.

Objective 4.3: In collaboration with specialist LGBT services deliver LGBT-led services to survivors of domestic and sexual abuse which focus on the specific and unique needs of lesbians, gay men, bisexual men and women and those who identify as transgender.

Objective 4.4: Enhance staff expertise and competencies through ongoing training and professional development opportunities, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, trauma-informed services.

Objective 4.5: Expand RISE's service offerings to provide holistic support to women, children and LGBT survivors of all ages and backgrounds, including targeted specialised programs for and with communities working from prevention, early intervention, crisis, to recovery and through to independence.