URGENT: Torture Survivors Left Without Support - Gift Aid

URGENT: Torture Survivors Left Without Support After Sudden US Funding Cut

At 3am on 25 January our sole US funding stream was frozen by an EO, instantly cutting off resources that our beneficiaries rely on. We had to suspend vital services and our team can no longer provide essential care to the survivors who depend on us:

When I arrived I was broken – the army hit me and tortured me, they beat our feet with sticks – here for the first time people cared for us, it was as though I could feel again. My life was filled with pain, but with Support A Survivor of Torture it has a meaning – I need the project to keep going, I need their support…

— Anthony, SAST client

I am a victim of torture – my husband and children are still in Sri Lanka – every week I look forward to coming to Support A Survivor of Torture – sometimes I feel confused because I miss my family so much – but Support A Survivor of Torture keeps me going – otherwise I would only be crying and feeling alone…

— Mary, SAST client

Our charity Support A Survivor of Torture (SAST) was set up in 2015 to help Tamil survivors of torture and sexual violence. Many are survivors of the decades long war that ended in 2009, others have experienced torture and oppression in the years that followed. The group is run by staff who are survivors themselves and meets once a week in a venue in London. Here we provided around 60 participants with a hot meal, group counselling, English and Art lessons, emergency help and advice, and the chance to talk to other people from the same culture. This has been a safety net and indeed a life saver for many, including for some who were on the brink of taking their own lives. All our past beneficiaries have received asylum. Most go on to take jobs and some to study, several have settled and started families. Every year previous beneficiaries return to celebrate Christmas or Tamil New Year. Their attendance is an inspiration to the recent arrivals who are despairing – showing that there is a future.

Core programmes for emergency aid, group counselling and legal referrals have been suspended — leaving our survivors without the safety net they depend on.

SAST provides:

✅ Emergency assistance to survivors fleeing torture and violence

✅ A safe space offering weekly hot food, group counselling and an opportunity to feel part of a community again

✅ English and Art lessons to help survivors access services and lead a fuller life in the UK

✅ Proactive support with housing and medical care

How You Can Make a Difference

We are calling on our community to help us fill this funding gap. Every donation, big or small, will help:

• £25 – Provides emergency food for a survivor for a week

• £112 – Covers a group counselling session by a trauma specialist

• £400 – Provides a hot meal for 50 survivors

• £1200 – Pays for up to 50 survivors to travel to the meeting space enabling them to meet in person instead of in isolation over Zoom.

We aim to raise £47,000 to sustain this vital work for six months. This will give us breathing space to ensure our most vulnerable survivors are not suddenly alone and without help for their complex trauma, depression and other mental health needs.

Your donation will directly support survivors at this critical moment. If you can’t donate, please share this page widely.

Please donate today and of you can’t donate please share this page.