I'm Daara Hopkinson, a 17 year old pupil at City of London School and this April I'll be racing the London Landmarks Half-Marathon in school uniform to support the A21 Charity!

This will be the first race I have ever done over 5k and the thought of doing over 21.1 kilometres in my suit trousers, tie and blazer is quite frankly a little scary. But the discomfort I will feel for a couple of hours is nothing compared to the untold suffering caused by modern slavery.

A21, our school charity, defines Human Trafficking as "the abuse of children, women, and men for their bodies and labour. It's modern-day slavery". Shockingly, there are more people enslaved today globally than at any other time in history with over 50million people in the world and 100,000 people right here in the UK alone. 1 in every 4 victims are children, just like me. These numbers can feel depressing, or even overwhelming. Modern slavery truly is a devastating human tragedy that has been hidden in plain sight.

Yet, A21 are BREAKING this cycle of modern slavery one life at a time and emphasise that whilst "no one person can do everything, every one of us can do something to end modern slavery".

Inspired by A21, I want to make a difference by doing something deeply challenging and meaningful, not just symbolic. My target to raise over *£10K* sounds big, but is achievable if lots of people give a little.

Please do something - Please donate, Please share this page. Your support will help A21 end modern slavery.