Hi there,

I'm running 13K (5K x 2.6) every day in May for Women's Aid NI because I want to raise awareness of the great work they do in addressing domestic violence as well as the support they provide to women & children who have experienced it through providing refuge accommodation and running preventative education programmes.

Personally speaking, my experience of DV is non-existent but I've felt a need in my heart to play my part in helping tackle it. During these times of lockdown, we are told the safest place to be is at home but for some this is simply not the case. 

Also you may be aware that new legislation seeking to strengthen domestic abuse laws here is currently being debated in the NI Assembly. Reading around the context of this, I have been deeply saddened and troubled that:

• Since lockdown started, there have been 4 domestic killings in NI.
• In the first three weeks of April, almost 2,000 domestic abuse calls were made to PSNI (a 10% increase from the same 2018 period).
• Last year, there were 18,640 domestic abuse crimes recorded in NI - the highest since records began in 2004/05. That's 51 domestic abuse crimes per day!

Behind each statistic is a person who is living a nightmare. I know that times are tight but I would deeply appreciate if you could give what you can so we can help eliminate domestic abuse here in NI.