I have been involved in UK Network of Sex Work projects since it was established over a decade ago and have with others over that time advocated for a national ugly mugs scheme. In June 2012 I was all set to swim the Great North Swim at Lake Windermere to raise money for the UKNSWP Co-ordinated National Ugly Mugs Pilot,  which was due to go live and did exactly that in July 2013. The event  day I was due to swim was cancelled because of wild windy and cold weather!  I'm determined to do it this year especially as the national ugly mugs pilot has proved to be such a sucess and I have been inspired by the support it has received.

NUM  was set up to provide a third party reporting scheme for sex workers which gives the opportunity for sex workers to alert others  across the UK about dangerous individuals, report crimes and harrassment they have expereinced and to have information about crimes committed against  them feed into police intelligence systems to aid in the investigation and prosecution of offenders targeting sex workers, should they wish to do so.  It is the first national ugly mugs scheme globallly and links local project based ugly mugs schemes across the UK and escort forum warning boards ino one central hub. The majority of sex work support projects in the UK are members of the scheme and individual sex worker membership sign ups have surpassed what UKNSWP expected in under a years live period and members continue to sign up daily. There has has been great support for NUM which aims to prevent violent against sex workers and recognises the rights of sex workers to public protection. We want the scheme to contine and personal donations and corporate giving are an impotant part of keeping it going.

So I'm back in training and will do the swim on 15th June 2013, swimming a mile in the lake. Please give generously and support national ugly mugs!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.