SurvivorsUK was founded in 1986 by Martin Dockrell and Richie McMullen. In their work with other organisations (Martin as a helpline worker at Lesbian and Gay Switchboard and Richie as the Director of Streetwise, a charity for male sex workers) they had taken calls from male survivors of rape, and had identified the lack of an appropriate service for these callers. From this, the idea for SurvivorsUK was born as a helpline service.

Charitable and company status was attained in 1989

The Survivors counselling service was developed at Wharfside Clinic, St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington

The SurvivorsUK Helpline was opened and ran for three evenings each week. Groups started to run in Mile End.

A multi-agency group was formed with Metropolitan Police focusing on Adult Male Survivors of sexual asault.

The SurvivorsUK National Male Rape Training Initiative Project was launched using funding from the department of Health and the Community Fund.

The SurvivorsUK National Male Survivors Centre Project began with funding from the Department of Health, securing a home for our organisation.

The National Male Survivors Centre opened in London Bridge.

In the years between 2002 and 2006, the services delivered by SurvivorsUK grew quantitatively. Funding was secured through a series of Section 64 grants from the Department of Health and trust funding from The City Parochial Foundation, Allen Lane Foundation and Lloyds TSB.

The salary costs of SurvivorsUK were secured with funding from the Big Lottery Reaching Communities programme. Additional funding from the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office have stabilized the charity’s finances and allowed for a program of strengthening and development to be instituted.

2011 marked the 25th anniversary of SurvivorsUK operations and the charity delivered a series of fundraising and awareness building events including a gala concert featuring Lesley Garrett, Ian Shaw, Meow Meow, The London Gay Men’s Chorus and many others. This in combination with a landmark art event and participation in several London running events raised in excess of £30,000 over the year.

We went to market with “Real Men Get Raped”, an advertising campaign aimed at adult male rape victims. The campaign created a stir in the media and resulted in exposure to an audience of over 18,000,000.

We launched our digital emotional support services.

SurvivorsUK was the primary beneficiary of the Ministry of Justice Male Rape funding stream which has allowed the organisation to create the National Male Survivors Website resource and to increase its national digital support offering to 72 hours per week. The organisation has also appointed the first male specific Independent Sexual Violence Advisor for London and continues to broaden and deepen its partnership working to ensure that male survivors have the best opportunities to receive support for a broad cross spectrum of problems.

SurvivorsUK officially opened its doors to non-binary clients, marking a step towards a more inclusive organisation on our 30th anniversary.

Clinic26 is a safe place for men who have experienced sexual abuse, assault or rape, to access sexual health services in a supportive environment. We offer both sexual health testing and support around sexual wellbeing.

SurvivorsUK works with EastEnders on a CSA storyline featuring Danny Dyer, bringing the reality of how sexual violence impacts men to millions of screens.

SurvivorsUK celebrates its 35th anniversary.