Hi, we are Heather, Emma and Dawn and thank you for coming over to our Just Giving Page. This September we have set ourselves a challenge to complete, between us, seven marathons to raise funds for Winner, Preston Road Women’s Centre, known locally as Purple House.

This amazing facility provides vital services and support for women and their children fleeing domestic abuse in Hull and the East Riding.

In just the first three weeks of lockdown earlier this year, 14 women and two children were killed as a consequence of domestic abuse and there was a 49% increase in calls to abuse helplines (BBC reporting -
27/04/2020).

Domestic abuse can affect anyone and any family from all sections of society, it doesn’t discriminate and isn’t necessarily synonymous with a black eye….horrific abuse can be taking place behind the closed doors of homes you may never think it possible. It’s more often than not a hidden abuse, perpetrators’ masks can be hidden in plain sight - and the consequences are absolutely devastating. It’s extremely hard to escape the abuse and coercive control and break the cycle. Purple House provides the support needed for women and their children to escape and become free.

Heather…Purple House and the support that they offer is important to me on many levels. In my daily working life I work with women affected by domestic abuse in their homes and we often signpost to the marvellous work this centre offers. So during September I am going to walk three marathons and as I pound the streets and surrounding countryside to where I live I will be doing so to honour the women who are able find a way to escape and the support workers that help with that journey.

Emma…Purple House is an incredibly precious local charity to me and the help they offer is life changing. I feel blessed to take up this
challenge and make a personal stand against domestic abuse in the home. I took up running during lockdown, so I’m pretty new to it! I am a busy working mum, raising two beautiful boys, so as they head back to school this month, it’s the perfect time to up my running. My challenge is to run a marathon length, mostly broken up into 5k’s between now and 30^th September, and to raise as much as I can for Purple House.

Dawn….domestic abuse can be going on behind the closed doors of any home and it’s vitally important that we collectively raise awareness of this devastating disease in our society. What Purple House offer to women and their children is life changing and as such I am delighted to raise money through cycling three marathons during this month.

Any donation you feel able to make to our chosen charity challenge would be very gratefully received…

• £5 would provide a food parcel for a family fleeing violence.
• £10 would provide a nursery place for a child whilst Mum receives confidential support.
• £25 would provide an individualised safety plan for a family experiencing ongoing harassment.
• £50 would provide a reliable mobile phone to help keep a family safe.
• £100 would provide legal advice to support a woman to access court orders.

Please encourage us we head out to pound the streets for just over 183 miles between us – and we will post updates as to our progress.

#DAishidden #purplehouse #takeastand #breakthesilence #thesegirlscan

Thank you…..Heather, Emma & Dawn x