2026 carries a particular significance for us as it marks ten years since we lost our daughter Alice. She was killed by a jealous ex-boyfriend following a relentless campaign of stalking.

It is also a big year for the Alice Ruggles Trust, the charity we set up in her name to help prevent what happened to her happening to others.

We want to bring stalking to an end, which cannot be done overnight. We need to change the mindset of a generation, and we believe the best way to do this is by educating young people about stalking. That’s why we focus on school assemblies and PSHE lessons that explain about healthy and unhealthy relationships, how to recognise and respond to unwanted attention, how to help a friend who may be affected, and how to manage one’s own negative behaviour. The Alice Ruggles Trust delivers assemblies in person and we provide free resources for teachers around the country.

In the nine years since we set up the Alice Ruggles Trust we’ve delivered assemblies to many thousands of schoolchildren and had our resources downloaded by teachers at hundreds of schools around the country. And it works. A formal academic evaluation by a team from three Universities shows this.

The Alice Ruggles Trust is going from strength to strength thanks to our wonderful staff and volunteers. Last year the government added stalking to its RSE (relationships and sex education) guidance and explicitly mentioned our work in its strategy to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. This has driven a big increase in the number of schools approaching us for assemblies. We’re also told that our annual conferences, held in Nottingham, have become “the place to be” for professionals engaged in tackling stalking. Amidst all this, we train police and other professionals and continue to campaign for change. Everyone agrees that the Alice Ruggles Trust punches well above its weight as a very small charity.

We desperately want this work to continue. But this can only happen if we maintain the infrastructure we need to train and support our rapidly growing body of volunteers and support everything else we do. This means that, like every other charity, we need to sustain a steady income from donations and fundraising. Over the years we’ve been supported by many generous donors and tireless fundraisers, to whom we are hugely grateful. But as we expand the costs grow. We are running down our reserves and desperately want to survive and continue our work, not only through 2026 but well into the future. But this won’t happen unless we can substantially increase our fundraising income, right now and sustainably into the future.

PLEASE HELP US! We welcome all donations, however small, but regular monthly donations are especially valuable to us as they provide a reliable income. And if you are able, please consider an endowment. These, above all else, will guarantee our longer-term future and help us fulfil our ultimate goal, to bring stalking to an end. You can donate at alicerugglestrust.org/donate or contact us at info @ alicerugglestrust.org.

Thank you so much.