First Step Leicester Leicestershire and Rutland

30/07/2026

We are incredibly proud to have been selected as a finalist at the Voluntary Action LeicesterShire (VAL) Awards 2026 for City Charity of the Year.

Thank you to everyone who enables us to support male survivors of sexual abuse. We are grateful to all of our trustees, staff, counsellors and funders who work tirelessly to ensure we can provide this vital service.

We'd also like to acknowledge our clients, who find the strength to come to us for help. Everyone who comes through the door here is helping us move towards a world in which survivors can talk freely about abuse without fear, pressure or judgement.

If you'd like to read more about First Step and the work we do, please take a look at our latest Impact Report here : https://firststepleicester.org.uk/about-us/our-impact/annual-impact-report/

28/07/2026

Ready to welcome three new placement counsellors to their induction day at First Step 😁

27/07/2026

We are currently looking to expand our small wonderful staff team here at First Step.

If this role is of interest to you, or you know someone who may be interested, please visit https://firststepleicester.org.uk/get-involved/job-opportunities/ for a full job description and details on how to contact us.

We look forward to hearing from you!

20/07/2026

29/06/2026

If you have a moment to nominate us to receive £5000 we would really appreciate it. It's very quick and easy to do, just click on the link below. Thank you 💜

08/06/2026

Today we received the fantastic news that First Step has been successfully reaccredited and will retain the LimeCulture Independent Accreditation Programme ‘Quality Mark’ for achieving the Quality Standards for Services Supporting Male Victims/Survivors of Sexual Violence for a further two years.

The Quality Mark demonstrates the commitment of everyone at First Step to the continuous improvement of the quality of support for male victims/survivors and we'd like to say thank to everyone who helps us achieve this.

It is fitting that on the same day we also received this feedback from one of our clients, a further indication of just how valuable this service is.

06/06/2026

It was an absolute pleasure this week to catch up with James and Isaak, who between them have run seven marathons and raised thousands of pounds for First Step.

Hearing from them about the time, effort and dedication involved in both the training for and running of the marathons was truly awe-inspiring and from all of us at First Step we would like to say a heartfelt thank you.

It isn't too late to donate to James's Four Marathons, Four Nations campaign, just visit :

https://www.justgiving.com/page/james-howat-first-step?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL

19/05/2026

You don’t have to run a marathon (or four!) to support us!

Here are some quick and easy ways to show us some support. If you can take a moment or two to do at least one of these, we'd very much appreciate it.

🏃‍➡️ This Sunday James is running his fourth and final marathon in three months in support of First Step and Rotherham Abuse Advocacy and Counselling Service. He has raised an
incredible amount already and such a huge challenge is definitely worthy of recognition.

If you’d like to show some support to get him through this last marathon, you can donate here :

https://www.justgiving.com/page/james-howat-first-step

🗳️ Nominate us for a £5000 award.

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By clicking on the link above you can nominate First Step to win a £5000 award. It takes just a couple of minutes and costs nothing!

✍ Sign up for and raise money each time you shop.
Shop with over 8,000 retailers via and earn a free
donation for us at the same time.

All the big names like TUI, eBay, Argos, John Lewis & Partners, Tesco and Just Eat are ready to donate. It won't cost you anything extra.

Please sign up today and we could win a massive £5,000 donation:

https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/support-a-good-cause/step-1/?char=358894&invite=ht6dgq&referral-campaign=c2s&utm_medium=email&utm_source=textcopy&utm_campaign=referral-2026&utm_term=CE947&utm_content=socialshare

12/05/2026

If you have a moment to spare, please nominate us. £5000 would make a huge difference 💜

29/04/2026

These touching words were written recently by the mother of one of our clients.

The impact of abuse is not limited to those who have experienced it directly. It can also affect their loved ones; partners, parents, children and friends.

This is why we also offer support to secondary survivors. If you are supporting a loved one in this way and would like to find out more about how we can help, please do contact us.