Through the Pavers Foundation, Graham Paver has donated £10,000 to Survive, a charity based in York City Centre which offers specialist services to adult survivors of sexual violence and abuse.
Pavers is one of the UK’s leading shoe retailers, with a focus on delivering comfort, value and happiness. The footwear retailer was founded by Catherine Paver in 1971, remains family owned and run today and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021. Jason Paver, Catherine’s grandson, is Managing Director of the business together with his father Stuart, who is Chairman. Stuart’s brothers, Graham and Ian are now retired from the business but still play an active role in The Pavers Foundation.
Survive supports c110 survivors each week in York and across North Yorkshire. In the past year, the charity has supported 1,914 people, and has delivered 5,375 hours of support work, counselling, trauma therapy, and EMDR psychotherapy. The donation from Graham will go directly into supporting the day-to-day costs of the charity allowing the important work and support to continue.
Mags Godderidge, CEO of Survive said: “We are so grateful for this donation. The fundraising climate has never been so challenging, so this donation means a lot! We know that our services and interven tions work: they are life-changing and for some, life-saving. This £10,000 donation will contribute significantly to our core costs and allow us to continue helping survivors of rape, sexual assault and child sexual abuse heal, rebuild and thrive.”
Graham first became aware of Survive after seeing a TV news segment where CEO Ms Mags Godderidge was speaking of the difficulties the organisation was facing with the lack of funding and their challenges with the growing waiting list. Graham said: “I could see how vital this service would be to someone in need, and the pressure on the charity due to the demand concerned me greatly. I hope this donation will help Survive continue their amazing work”.
The Pavers Foundation is delighted to support causes up and down the UK and beyond, the vast majority of which are nominated by colleagues of the business, with other donations being made on behalf of the Paver family. The Foundation proudly makes a difference to local communities and more recently has taken steps to explore environmentally positive initiatives. To date, the Pavers Foundation has awarded over £2.3 million in donations.
