Women come together to raise and shave for Trevi
A lawyer, chef and decorator are coming together later this month to raise funds and shave their heads in aid of women’s charity, Trevi.
Raise ‘n’ Shave is charity Trevi’s new fundraising initiative: supporters set a date for their big shave and in the lead up raise funds to help women and children in need. This year so far, three special women have signed up to Raise ‘n’ Shave and are currently busy raising funds; they hope that more people will join them.
Raise ‘n’ Shave came about after five existing supporters shaved their hair last year during the lockdown. This included Natasha Friday who raised in excess of £1,500 and Trevi’s Fundraising and Marketing Lead, Hayley Dann, who collectively with three friends, raised £3,500.
Hayley Dann, Fundraising and Marketing Lead at Trevi stated: ‘I have done many fundraising challenges in the past including haunted sleepovers, fire walks, mud runs and abseils, but this was by far the most fun and personal. I did not realise just how liberating and empowering it would be! It has literally saved me hours of getting ready time in the mornings and I have really enjoyed playing with my new looks as the hair has been growing back, too.’
The Raise ‘n’ Shave fundraising initiative is easy to organise:
1. Set a realistic target of what you would like to raise (a slight stretch from the norm – you are after all, shaving off all your hair!)
2. Book your big shave date with a local hairdresser or a trusted friend/ family member who is good with scissors and a pair of clippers.
3. Set up your online fundraising page.
4. Share, share, share!
Trevi has produced a full Raise ‘n’ Shave fundraising pack with lots of fundraising and social media engagement tips for supporters.
Fundraising like Raise ‘n’ Shave is vital for charity Trevi in order to ensure it can continue its life-changing work with women and children in need.
Trevi runs three centres including Jasmine Mother’s Recovery which is a residential rehabilitation centre for women with substance misuse issues, 80% of whom have been affected by domestic abuse. The centre has been running since 1993 and in that time has helped hundreds of mothers and children. Jasmine’s dedicated and expert team works with each mother to help her break her addiction for good and to be the best mother she can be. As a result, Jasmine’s outcomes are impressive: almost 8 out of 10 children get to stay with their mum.
Trevi also operates the Sunflower Women’s Centre in the community. Sunflower is a safe hub for connection and hope, offering a wrap-around therapeutic service for any woman in need in the city of Plymouth. Over the past 12 months, more than 455 women have registered the service, bringing the total amount of women registered with Sunflower to more than 700. Almost all the women have been affected by mental ill health, and over the past year throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Sunflower Practitioners have reported a significant increase in crisis issues such as domestic abuse, extreme poverty and social isolation causing agoraphobia.
To try and meet the rising demand, the Sunflower Women’s Centre has doubled its mental health courses, increased its women’s space drop-in from two days to five days a week and increased access to trauma counselling services. It also launched a new Life Begins fund for women to apply to for either a sponsored placement within rehab or to cover emergency expenses to aid their recovery and resilience from the pandemic. So far, two women have gained a sponsored rehabilitation placement within Jasmine Mother’s Recovery; numerous other women have received support for counselling and EMDR trauma treatment, food vouchers, travel costs to secure employment, devices such as tablets and laptops to aid with homeschooling, accessing services and preparing for employment, and emergency funding to replace broken down items such as a cooker.
Local teacher (anon) who has received support from Sunflower for post-natal depression recently stated: ‘I now feel more positive, more confident and after 4 months off of work, I feel ready to return. I can honestly say, without the course and support from Trevi’s Sunflower Women’s Centre I would not be in this position. I truly believe I would be still struggling to find my way again. I know that in Trevi I have found support for life. It’s much-needed and with their support, I feel I am ready to take on life again.’
However, as the Sunflower service receives very little government funding, the charity is calling on the local community to fundraise.
Julia O’Hara, Trustee and Raise ‘n’ Shaver whose big shave is on 11th June, states: ‘I am fundraising to help more women through Trevi’s Life Begins Fund which has a massive impact on women’s lives at a time when they need it most. I am looking forward to losing my hair for a fantastic cause.’
Hannah Shead, CEO, Trevi states, ‘We are extremely grateful to all our supporters for generating much-needed funds to help keep our services going this year. The demand for our services and our Life Begins fund just keeps growing and we simply couldn’t continue with our life-changing work if it wasn’t for our compassionate and generous supporters. Every single one of our Raise ‘n’ Shavers are very brave; I am inspired by such female determination and dedication every day – I look forward to seeing how their courageous challenge goes.’
The charity would be delighted to hear from anyone else interested in joining its Raise ‘n’ Shave tribe this year. For a full Raise ‘n’ Shave fundraising pack, please contact fundraising@trevi.org.uk or call 01752 255758.
