How you can support the invisible victims among us

By way of a warning, even if you look only at the stats (as we have done) the subject below is almost too shocking to cover. But here we are, and it seems businesses especially can help.

Dear Reader, 

Welcome to your Friday edition of The Raikes Journal - a members’ only edition, which means if you want to read all of the main story you’ll need to become one of our paying subscribers. You will be helping support this community interest company and make what it does possible!

Back to today’s main story. As part of Raikes’s journey through Gloucestershire we have pledged also to champion charities and it can be a thoroughly uplifting experience learning about many of the 2,000 that exist in our county (yes, that’s right, 2,000!!!).

But sometimes it is not for the weak hearted, either. We are frequently moved by the inspirational individuals who work tirelessly to make our lives better, and by the courage of those who, as a result of that support, have been able to pledge one thing to themselves - to never give up. 

Sometimes you come across a charity which is almost too much to bear; children’s charities, for example. And then there is GRASAC. 

We didn’t need Gilli Appleby, the chief executive officer of Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, to tell us any other detail than the statistics of what the charity deals with to be more than shocked.

We write about it here because it faces a year of uncertainty. Last night (Thursday 2 May) the new Police and Crime Commissioner for the county was voted in. It is they who help determine the funding for GRASAC, a lifeline for many, as you’ll learn if you read the story below. And then there is the general election and the ongoing cost of living crisis.

In the face of that, Appleby says there is a way businesses can help make a real difference even if they cannot contribute with cash. They can help directly. We tell you how below too.

Aside from this heavy topic, the edition gives you some Briefing Notes covering-off a round-up of news and titbits that caught our eye. 

And we hope you have a great weekend too. Oh, we’re taking Monday Bank Holiday off (lucky us!). Due to return with two email editions at the end of the week.

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* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. If you upgrade to paid too, you’ll be able to see beyond the paywalls we place on many of our second and third email editions of the week and that lock our archive after two weeks. You will be able to view our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, comment on our stories and you’ll be helping to make possible this community interest company dedicated to supporting the county, its businesses, charities and education and training providers — all for just £2.30 per week!! For commercial opportunities visit our About us page or email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.

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Your Friday roundup 

💷 📈 We flagged another addition to our Top 100 series yesterday, the series that follows the financial fortunes of the county’s biggest firms by turnover, and we flag another one today. This time it is the turn of National Star. The Gloucestershire college is an institution, and a major one at that, requiring an incredible £40 million to keep going every year. We take a peek inside its annual report and see how it’s been doing. You can read more here - if you are a member!

⛵ 🏴‍☠️ Fans of the forthcoming Tall Ships Festival have no need to panic. That’s the message from the Canal and Rivers Trust which looks after the waterway to Gloucester Docks. It is the same organisation that looks after the swing-bridge over the canal, part of St Ann Way and which is about to close for emergency repairs. No working bridge - no Tall Ships Festival! According to Gloucestershire Highways the work will be completed well in time for the event, which brought £11.2 million to the city when it was staged in 2019. Find our more about the festival here.

💷 📈 We’ll write a full report on the financials of St James’s Place when its annual report is in. But for now we can tell you that the Cirencester-based business - the biggest by ‘turnover’ in the county, and therefore in our rolling Top 10 Businesses in Gloucestershire series - continues to grow. Its latest trading update for the three months to 31 March shows funds under management at the wealth management firm were £179 billion - up on the same quarters last year when they were £153.6 billion. Mark FitzPatrick, the firm’s chief executive officer, called the results “good”.

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Dates for your Diary

🎺 🎶 Don’t forget, Cheltenham Jazz Festival continues through the weekend. And ‘yes’ there are still tickets available for numerous acts – as well as the free stage too. Find out more here.

📆 Ever wondered about your leadership style? Even if you think you know what it is, do you know how to unlock its potential? Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce is teaming up with Randall & Payne for this interactive workshop which will aim to help you understand and harness your unique leadership style, foster stronger relationships with your team and build successful partnership through effective communication. Randall & Payne’s Will Abbott will take you through what is called ‘the DiSC model’ on a voyage of discovery. Due to take place on 7 May from 9am at Chargrove House, Shurington Road, Cheltenham. Find out more here. 

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How you can support the invisible victims among us 

By way of a warning, even when you look only at the stats and leave aside the all-too difficult detail (which we have) the subject below is almost too shocking to write about. But here we are, and it seems businesses especially can help.

By Andrew Merrell.

When you learn to write as a reporter you are told your opening line should ‘hook and hold’ the reader and you soon learn that ‘something shocking’ can do the job, and then sometimes you come across a subject that needs approaching with a little more care. 

In this case, which is explaining what the Gloucestershire charity GRASAC does and why its work is invaluable, it is a lot more care and room to let the data speak instead – but it is still difficult to avoid being shocked. 

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We’ve locked everything else below this line we are afraid, for the benefit of our paying members. If you have not already, please do consider joining them.

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