Over half a million pounds raised in memory of Sarah Everard will go to grassroots charities

Over half a million pounds has been raised in memory of Sarah Everard and will go towards grassroots charities that support women across the UK.

Almost three weeks after the murder of the 33-year-old Brixton marketing executive, the women behind the group Reclaim These Streets have said they are “overwhelmed by the generosity and support” towards a fundraiser set up in her name.

They group have announced that the money raised will be handed out by the charity Rosa, that specialises in making grants to support women’s and girls’ organisations in the UK.

The funding will be going towards grassroots organisations, including those supporting women of colour and trans women.

A tweet posted on their Twitter page read: “We’re excited to announce that Rosa, the only UK charitable funder dedicated to supporting women’s and girls’ organisations, will be taking forward the management and distribution of our crowdfunder, which currently stands at over £525,000.

“We are grateful to everyone who has taken action to make violence and harassment against women and girls a global conversation over the past few days.

“Whether through donations, sharing stories or standing up for change – you are making a difference.”

📣 We are excited to announce that @RosaForWomen, the only UK charitable funder dedicated to supporting women’s and girls’ organisations, will be taking forward the management and distribution of our crowdfunder, which currently stands at over £525,000! pic.twitter.com/lUNUxsKALn

— Reclaim These Streets (@ReclaimTS) March 19, 2021

Ms Everard’s body was found in a builder’s bag in woodland in Ashford, Kent on March 10 after she vanished while walking home from a friend’s house on March 3.

PC Wayne Couzens, 48, a Metropolitan police officer, has been arrested and charged on suspicion of the kidnap and murder Ms Everard.

Her death triggered an outpouring of sadness and criticism of the Met Police from women across South London.

The crowdfunding page was initially set up when Reclaim These Streets were told that a planned gathering at Clapham Common to remember Ms Everard would be breaching Covid-19 restrictions and could leave the organisers with £10,000 fines if it went ahead.

The group had aimed to raise £320,000, representing the £10,000 fine each woman organising was threatened with across the 32 locations where in-person vigils were planned.

It has since been decided that the funds raised will instead be donated to charity because the group “do not want to see hundreds of thousands of pounds contributed to a system that consistently fails to keep women safe”.

Reclaim These Streets has also hit out at the Met for their handling of the vigil on March 13 describing the actions of the officers that night as “abhorrent”.

A vigil held at Clapham Common escalated into chaos when police officers flooded the bandstand and arrested attendees.

One symbolic image from the night, that has since been shared thousands of times on social media, shows a young woman being pinned to the floor by two male police officers.

Demonstrators took to the streets on Monday 15  to protest over the police’s handling of the vigil and hundreds gathered outside Parliament and New Scotland Yard holding signs with the words “she was walking home” and “we will not be silenced”.

Council leaders from Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark also criticised the Met’s “manhandling” of the women attending the vigil, calling it “utterly horrifying”.

Reclaim These Streets chose not to link the fundraiser to a specific charity because they wanted to be able to support a broad range of organisations and the charity has made it clear that the funds will be supporting transgender and non-binary people too.

They added: “We’d like to reaffirm women means all women, including trans women. All women, femmes, non-binary people and gender non-conforming people all deserve to be safe.”