Close
Three UCL employees join 276 fellow choir members to raise over £30k for domestic abuse victims
23 April 2020
London City Voices has raised over £30,000 in less than five days for a charity helping women suffering from domestic abuse during the coronavirus lockdown.
London City Voices has raised over £30,000 in less than five days for a charity helping women suffering from domestic abuse during the coronavirus lockdown.
Last Friday the choir released a video of Carole King's You've Got A Friend to support survivors of domestic abuse. 276 members of the choir, including Caroline Norris, Digital Skills Development Manager, Dr Jo Pearce, Principal Teaching Fellow in IoE, and Lorren Rea, Head of Employment Policy, recorded a video of themselves performing the song to raise awareness and vital funds for Women’s Aid’s Live Chat service.
Women’s Aid said it received a 41% increase in users visiting their Live Chat page during the first two weeks of lockdown and they expect this demand to continue to rise.
The Live Chat service is more vital than ever as it can be discreetly accessed by those who are able to privately message on their phones but who would be unable to make a phone call without being heard by the perpetrator.
Raising over £30,000 in less than four days has helped Women's Aid reach its overall fundraising goal (of £200K) to enable them to temporarily extend the hours of the Live Chat service.
Commenting on the success of the fundraising mission, Caroline Norris, Digital Skills Development Manager said: “London City Voices has a history of charity fundraising, and we chose this charity as some of our members have direct connections with it, or have benefitted from its services.”
Lorren Rea, Head of Employment Policy, has added: “For many of our 500+ members, our choir is like an extended family. We are missing our face-to-face singing and social activities, so we have transferred these online. We wanted to come together to do something positive in the crisis. We really appreciate everyone's generosity in donating to the Women's Aid Live Chat campaign, and we hope that our UCL community will share the video with their friends and family.”
Follow us
