Glasgow Rape Crisis Centre was opened in 1976 by a group of women armed only with a tiny grant and an even tinier office space in the centre of Glasgow. There were no paid staff for many years after the centre opened, with all of our services provided by volunteers. We still keep volunteers at the heart of our helpline support service with a training programme being run annually.

Our top image shows a 1970s photograph of the group that would become the Glasgow Rape Crisis Centre.

And now … We still have that same banner at the Centre. Thanks to the former rape crisis woman who gave us this banner at our 30th anniversary event. Proud to still have it.

If you’d like more in-depth information about the early days of rape crisis in Glasgow, and across the rest of Scotland you can read the oral history on our website.

One thing that hasn’t changed though is the struggle we have for funding. After 40 years, hundreds of thousands of phone calls, and latterly texts and emails, tens of thousands of survivors receiving one to one or group support and thousands of volunteers trained, we still struggle to fund our service. We don’t have a ‘product’, nothing to ‘sell’, just the expertise of our support staff who work with survivors of all forms of sexual violence, abuse and exploitation. And this abuse is most commonly perpetrated by the men that they know or that they live with.

So, in our 40th year we’ve caught up with the 21st century and we have embraced technology (#notadinosauranymore). We are online, on Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram. The world is changing especially the way in we access information and have to move with the times.

We’ve grown so much that we’ve outgrown our Centre. The space we have right now can’t cope with the numbers coming through our door so we’re going to be using our social media to help raise the funds we need to expand to meet that need and provide those services as quickly as possible.

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We are hosting a Mammoth Book Sale on Saturday 30 July between 11am and 4pm at the Spoon Cafe on the corner of Albion Street and Trongate. Everyone is welcome.

Our patron and award winning author Denise Mina will be opening the event. If you would like to donate any books please feel free to drop them into our office before 30 July.

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Why not pop along to Blackfriars bar in the Merchant City on Friday 1 July from 7.30pm onwards to help raise money?

There will be a DJ, raffle prizes and a special prize come along and meet us for a get together and a great night.

Tickets are £5 at the door or they are available from our office now if you want to buy in advance.

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Can you take one of our collecting cans or buckets for your workplace or business?

Even your small change can make a difference to us. Contact us on 0141 552 3201 to talk about taking a can or bucket, or email us at angela@rapecrisiscentre-glasgow.co.uk.

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The Colour Run is coming to Glasgow on 17 July 2016. If you’re already booked and plan to run, perhaps you would think about donning a Glasgow Rape Crisis Centre t-shirt and fundraising for us.

If you hadn't planned to run, maybe this can be exactly what you need to motivate you to get those running shoes on. If you are interested, please get in touch on 0141 552 3201 or email us on angela@rapecrisiscentre-glasgow.co.uk.

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Each month we have a 'Volunteer of the Month' nominated by her peers for exceptional work done that month.

Well, lots of nominations as ever but this month we have a tie with two of our very hard-working volunteers getting the winners' tiara (seriously, there is NO tiara!).

So congratulations to Jenny McLaren who has been nominated for the amazing work she is doing with the young women’s group. Also to Ailish Carroll-Brentnall for the huge amount of support work she’s involved in at the moment, covering helpline shifts and face to face support as well as promoting our fundraising far and wide.

Well done sisters - it's so good to have such committed and skilled young women working with us.

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Well done to our Sisters who walked the 30 Mile challenge in just under 12 hours and raised lots of money for our centre!

The final total is still to be confirmed and we will let you know the amount raised on our next e-newsletter.

Would you like to contribute before the fund is closed, and help us reach our target?

Visit our JustGiving page to make your donation.

Thanks to all those who have supported us through Paypal, JustGiving and by contributing to collecting cans and buckets. Your donations and the fundraising you do for us will make a massive difference to the service we can provide.

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Keep up with the latest news from the centre by following us.

You can:

• Find us on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter
• Follow us on Instagram

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