If you are reading this then many thanks for taking the time out to read my page. For the purpose of this wonderful cause I will share my story. Every donation, no matter how large or small is an act of generosity that will go to help protect a child that has been withheld one of their basic human rights as a child: Love, protection, a safe environment and of course a childhood.

Unfortunately for me, I know how it feels to be withheld some of these rights. By all means my story is nowhere near as bad as what some children experience and for that I count my blessings. From a very young age, around the age of 6 when my younger sibling was born my mother suffered from post natal depression which developed into clinical depression, this was never treated with medication or counselling. I was regularly verbally and physically abused by my mother. Such emotional and physical abuse has taken a toll on my psychological well being which I am still working through and will be a lifelong journey. My dad was rarely present due to working away, but when home would just stand by or join in. My life became an obstacle course of trying to navigate between my mother's violent moods swings, a skill I could never quite master.

During this time I fell victim to another type of abuse. Another confused child took advantage of my vulnerable situation and abused me in a way in which I would never recover. My older brother. Sibling sexual abuse is a rarely discussed issue due to the stigma and shame attached to it. This abuse has affected me in ways I cannot articulate, ways in which I cannot actually talk about.

In latter years exposure of such matters has become more acceptable to discuss. As an example, I have found out that my family has 3 generations of child sexual abuse, a horrific figure which I am determined to stop.

I am currently doing my masters in Counselling and I then plan to go on to become a Psychologist. My dream is to be able to support those recovering from Child sexual abuse or domestic abuse. I wish to twist my bad experience into some kind of positive.

To sign off I want to share something I read that has stuck with me since: ‘When you are hugging a child, always be the last one to let go. You never know how long they need it.’