Get Involved
“I started volunteering for Rahab because I wanted to help a group of women who are often marginalised and who are so vulnerable to sexual violence. Over the last two to three years, though, individual people with real lives and diverse personalities began to emerge from the many faces we see. I feel so privileged to see beyond a blanket group and come alongside individual women as they go through the ups and downs of life.”
– Rahab Volunteer
Could you give some time?
There are different ways that you could volunteer with Rahab including:
Prayer
Founded on a Christian ethos, Rahab recognises the power of prayer in transforming lives.
If you’re not sure on what to pray for while praying for victims of sexual exploitation, we’ve written a blog with some ideas on what areas to pray over, to read this click here.
We organise the Oxford Road Prayer Walk on the first Tuesday of every month. We meet in the reception of Lifespring Church (143-145 Oxford Road, Reading, RG1 7UY) at 12.30pm.
The Prayer Walk lasts between 30 and 40 minutes.
The Mustard Tree sends out monthly prayer newsletters, where we give an update on what we’re doing. To be signed up to this sign up here.
“I just wanted to comment that it’s a privilege to be able to go out on the streets and meet these lovely ladies. Most of them very chatty and appreciative of us being willing to meet them. Some are amazed that we give up our own time to see them voluntarily.”
Sue – Rahab Volunteer
Chaplaincy
What does Chaplaincy mean for Rahab?
Our aim is to provide holistic well-being support and advice for women who are sexually exploited on-street in Reading.
Our Chaplaincy Outreach program enables Rahab to:
- Be a presence on the streets of Reading.
- Befriend the women.
- Promote sexual health and wellbeing.
- Provide a referral pathway onto our other programmes and our partner organisations.
- Empower volunteers to serve the local community.
- Identify issues individuals are facing and need assistance with.
Our volunteers come from the churches all over Reading.
What do your Rahab Chaplains do?
Our Rahab volunteer teams head out multiple times a week for our street-based night outreach in West Reading. We go out in teams of two to three people, up to four times a week. Meeting at 9:30pm until 11pm. However, on busy evenings these hours can sometimes be extended to meet the needs of the group of women we serve.
The conversations we have may be long or short, but all help to build relationship. The people we approach are working, and therefore are not always able to engage in a chat, but we are able to give out supplies.
Our teams take refreshments and supplies with them, which we hand out to those we see. These include chocolate bars, drinks cans, hot drinks, wet wipes, contraception, rape alarms, and clothing depending on weather. These chats are an opportunity for us to talk to clients about how we can further support them.
When we make contact with an exploited person, we:
- Meet them where they’re at, seeking to build a real relationship with them.
- Demonstrate the love of God, endeavouring to remind them that they are valued, loved and cared for.
- Give her Rahab’s contact details, whether that’s a staff member’s mobile, email or social media page, they’ll be able to reach us whenever they’re ready.
- Care for them, providing a health pack, which can include toiletries, contraception, and refreshments.
- Offer prayer and support, if the woman wants us to.
For further details, click here to download our Volunteer Information Pack.
Send us a message if you’d like to join our outreach teams, and we’ll send you an application form.
Crisis Support
We offer a number of different services for our clients, which are all tailored to the individual’s needs.
These include:
- Befriending a client, to help combat their isolation
- Visiting them in prison or hospital
- Advocating on behalf of individuals at other service meetings (e.g. probation, drugs & alcohol), appointments and court appearances
- Helping them to complete forms, for example: benefits and housing
- Collecting individuals on release from prison, assisting in their integration back into the Community
Get in touch if this is something you’d like to be involved in.
Shop our Amazon Wishlist
Our wishlist has the latest items that we need for the women.
There may be other ways you can help, such as:
- Collecting supplies for the outreach sessions.
- Raising awareness of what we do.
- Praying for the teams when they are out.
- Making a donation.
If you would like to get involved then we would love to hear from you.