At the Extraordinary General Meeting of 24/1/03, the membership and Board of London Rape Crisis Centre resolved to close the Centre, dissolve the Charity and dispose of its assets.

This extremely difficult decision was taken after considerable debate, and with much sadness.  The EGM recognised that the Board, staff and volunteer had explored all possible avenues in their attempts to keep LRCC going.  Given the lack of success in recruiting new Board members and in securing ongoing funding, the EGM concluded that it was imperative to dispose of the charity's most significant asset, its building, before reserve funding runs out.

LRCC's building is owned by the charity, is on the market, and is expected to be sold for between £400,000 and £500,000.  This money must be spent in line with LRCC's charitable objectives:

• to offer advice and support to women and girls in London who have experienced rape, sexual assault or sexual abuse
• to carry out research, education and campaigning activities in order to challenge the myths and present the truth about sexual violence against women.

The Board have identified two options for disposing of LRCC's assets to further these aims:

• Option 1: to donate the proceeds of the sale of the building to organisations who can demonstrate that they will use the donations to further the aims and principles of LRCC
• Option 2: to set up a new charitable body, the London Rape Crisis Charitable Trust, invest the proceeds of the sale of the building, and give and monitor grants to organisations whose aims and principles are in line with those of LRCC.

Given its small numbers and un-representative make-up, the Board needs assistance to make either of these Options work in practice. 

For Option 1 to work appropriately, we need to recruit women to an Advisory Group, to evaluate bids and advise us on donations.  Advisory Group Members will:

• have substantial experience and expertise around campaigns, research or service provision to women and girls who have experienced sexual violence
• be independent of any organisation that might bid for a donation
• between them, represent all of London's communities
• be committed to working within a feminist understanding of sexual violence against women, and to organisations run by women, for women.

The commitment for Advisory Group Members is strictly time-limited, and would involve:

• attending a meeting to comment on LRCC Board's criteria for donations
• reading bids for donations, and evaluating them against criteria
• attending a meeting to advise the Board on the disposal of funds among the bids.

For Option 2 to work, we need to recruit women as Charity Trustees.  Trustees should have the same background as that identified above for Advisory Group Members, and in addition have experience of being a Trustee, Board or Management Committee Member of a relevant organisation.  Trustees would need to be able to make a substantial commitment of time and responsibility.  To give the Trust reasonable likelihood of success, we would need to identify a minimum of 6 suitable Trustees, each of whom is willing to commit to 2 years membership.

If you are interested in either joining an Advisory Group, or becoming a Trustee, please e-mail us at:  contact@londonrapecrisis.co.uk.  We need to know:

• which of the two options you are interested in
• your relevant experience
• any London women's organisation you are connected to, or have been connected to within the last 2 years, and how you are/were connected
• briefly, your understanding of sexual violence, and why you support by women, for women organisations
• which community or communities of London women you would be able to represent.

If you would like to register your organisation to receive information about donations or grants, please send the organisation's name, brief details of what it does, and contact details to:  contact@londonrapecrisis.co.uk or to:  RCRP, PO Box 69, London WC1X 9NJ