Shockingly, 1 in 4 women in the UK will experience domestic abuse .

• 2 women a week are murdered as a consequence of domestic abuse .

• 3 women a week commit suicide due to experiencing domestic abuse .

• In Newcastle alone, domestic abuse is estimated to cost £33.6 million a year.

I am a proud Trustee of the West End Women and Girls Centre (WEWGC); a charity that has worked tirelessly for over 36 years to transform the lives of local women by walking beside them on their journey to safety.

WEWGC change the lives of women through their Journey 2 Safety Programme. WEWGC provide one to one advocacy support and Safe 4 Life (a recovery training course), support that empowers women on their journey from victim to survivor.

As a result of the austerity agenda, local authority cuts and the contracting out of services, the Safe 4 Life programme is currently unfunded. The funding may have disappeared but sadly the need has not. The programme costs WEWGC £100,000 a year to provide advocacy and training services to women who need it most.

In support of WEWGC, I will be taking part in this year's Great North Run to hopefully raise £600, a sum which will fund one local woman on her journey to safety.

This cause is extremely close to my heart and I hope my family, friends and connections will support the hugely important work of WEWGC to enable other women to break free from domestic violence and abuse.

NB - For those of you who may have influence regarding CSR funding... 10 organisations or individuals providing £1,000 a month would fund our entire Journey 2 Safety programmes for a whole year.

If you would like to discover more about the work we do, please visit our website http://westendwomenandgirls.co.uk, call or visit the centre for full details of our programme and plans.

Thank you so much for your support.