Hi everyone,
It’s time for me to ask you to open your hearts (and your pockets) for one more charitable cause. I’m doing a charity skydive on the 19 June for the U-Turn Project who work with women trapped into prostitution in East London.
This may seem like a somewhat controversial choice of charity, no fluffy animals or smiling children in sight. However, prostitutes are one of the most forgotten groups in society and also one of the most in need. Often women are trafficked into prostitution, or are forced to sell their bodies in order to support their children or drug addictions. These women are generally from troubled backgrounds and Home Office figures show that up to 70 per cent of prostitutes spent time in care and 85 per cent experienced physical abuse within their families. Many are homeless and up to 95 per cent of street prostitutes are on heroin or crack. Over the past 10 years, 48 women
working as prostitutes have been murdered in the UK. Every time a prostitute gets into a car with a client she faces the possibility of violence, rape and even murder. 45 per cent of sex workers report sexual abuse and often find that their cases are not taken seriously when taken to the police. It’s uncomfortable to think that though this goes on all over the country there is so little awareness or help on offer to these women.
The U-Turn Project (http://uturnproject.co.uk/) aims to help women out of the vicious cycle of prostitution as well as giving them the opportunity to choose their own futures. They run a night-time outreach service and a women’s centre by day which offers women access to sexual health clinics and drug treatment programmes, housing advice and support through psychiatric counsellors. They provide an absolutely vital service to women who often have nowhere else to turn.
I’m sure that you’ll all agree this is a worthy cause and well worth a few bob. To those of you who donated to my chop for charity, thank you so much and I hope that I can convince you to keep on being charitable. To those of you that didn’t, here’s your chance to rid yourself of that guilty conscience and to really help someone in need. If nothing else, think of the good karma coming your way when you donate!
You can donate here, but if you’d prefer to give me the money in person or send it then just drop me a message or a text and we can sort it out.
Thank you all so much,
Gee x
