RAPE Crisis Scotland launched its annual 16 Days of Action campaign on Monday, with over 90% of the Crowdfunder target already raised in under 24 hours.

The Glasgow-based charity launched #16poundsfor16days with a focus on improving waiting times for rape survivors and vulnerable people reaching out to support agencies and has already fundraised more than £4500.

Brenna Jessie, from Rape Crisis Scotland, said: “In June 2018 we showed a snapshot that showed that 582 survivors of sexual violence and abuse were waiting to access support and this year we’ve released the same snapshot and that number has almost doubled.”

From 582 people on the waiting list to access rape crisis support services in June 2018, the number has jumped up to more than 1030 people in a 12-month period.

Brenna said: “We don’t believe that any survivor should ever have to wait to access this support and we know the impact that accessing it in a timely fashion, and at the point if need, has.

“We have a lot of comments from survivors right across Scotland who have experienced being placed on a waiting list and just how awful and hard that is.”

The charity is encouraging people to donate to the campaign and as Brenna explains, the manageable £16 target is something which means more people can get involved with fundraising:

“We know that people are cash-strapped, we know that people don’t have a lot of money lying about tin their pockets so we want people to be able to donate but also to take the conversation into their workplace and communities.

“The fact that we’ve raised over £4000 in just 24 hours shows that it’s an issue that’s close to everybody’s heart. We all know someone who has been affected by sexual violence, whether we know it or not.

“Our ultimate aim with this campaign is to not only get individuals to donate but to also get the backing from bigger businesses too looking to match the donations.”

Supporters have been getting creative with fundraising ideas, with Brenna stating that she’s heard of people doing everything from 16k runs to Rape Crisis Scotland’s CEO doing 16 cartwheels in a row:

“It just really seems to be catching people’s imagination When you look at the comments on the fundraiser, they’re amazing actually.”

Brenna has said the target for the fundraiser will be raised from £5000 to £10,000 due to the popularity of the campaign so far.