On 28th October, Redthread's Midlands team will be taking on the Redthread Walkathon, a 12 mile walk (thats four hours!) around Birmingham checking in at three of the 13 hospitals our teams work in. We will set off from Queen Elizabeth Hospital making our to Birmingham Children's Hospital and Heartlands and back to Queen Elizabeth.

Serious youth violence in the Midlands is rising. Every nine days a teenager in the UK is stabbed according to West Midlands Police yet so many of the young people affected struggle to access the support they need to break away from cycles of harm.

Redthread believes in the power and potential of young people. We work side by side with our wonderful NHS colleagues to reach young people aged 11-25 who have been affected by violence and exploitation and support and empower them to recover from trauma, keep themselves safe and begin making positive plans for their future. We might liaise with a young persons school or college to prevent a permanent exclusion; be in touch with CAMHS to discuss therapy or be speaking to their social worker about moving to an area that is safer for them - often we will need to do all three. Last year, we supported more than 450 young people across Notts and Birmingham!

We are aiming to raise £1,000 towards our work to ensure we can continue reaching the young people who need us. This could pay for 10 young people who are recovering from violence in hospital to have immediate crisis support from a specialist Redthread youth worker.

Our work is only possible because of the generosity of Redthread's supporters. If like us, you believe that all young people deserve to be healthy, safe and happy, sponsor us to take on the Redthread Walkathon!