YOUR IDEAS
Email in ideas that you have already had to feedback@stopthetraffik.org and we'll profile them on this page.
Have a look at the Freedom Walls that other people have done.
Also, check out your campaigning on chocolate.
On Thursday 3rd April 200 students from Oasis Academies raised money for STOP THE TRAFFIK by running the distance of a marathon in a continuous relay – breaking the record for the fastest marathon ever run.
Chris Thomlinson (British record holder for long jump) and Philips Idowu (the world record holder for indoor triple jump) were both training prior to the event and waited around to talk to and encourage the runners.
From the moment the run began the stadium was filled with the noise and excitement of students cheering each other on, staff joining in, and our host, Actor Connor Byrne of Tracey Beaker and London’s Burning, on the mic. It was evident how much it meant to the students taking part as they ran with all their might.
The students broke the record for the fastest marathon (2h 4m 26s), running in an amazingly quick 1 hour 46 minutes 25 seconds!
"When are you going to help?"
I was sold by my mother,
to some rich man with a "kind" face.
Just to keep my family safe,
from poverty, the harsh reality
of what has become of me.
Now I'm just a waif of a child
Trying to hide the shame and brutality
of what has become of me.
Fed less than you have for breaky
You're the ones with all the money.
When are you going to help?
We're not asleep, we're awake.
We just can't escape.
From the lies, the endless torturing,
the long hours and the poisoning
that's being scared upon our hearts
By the men wearing jeans
the factory owners, coffee beans.
That we work for
That we're picking up but aren't
earning for.
When are you going to help?
Now we know we are never going to be
Those people in those,
Magazines
That the well-off teenagers read.
We are lost and we are broken
Our pain is so unspoken
So make a difference
change the world
Save those little girls
When are you going to help?
Sarah Camp
January is big time for sales in Belgium. Crowded high streets and bargain hunters every Saturday. The ideal place for a fun action. Youthgroups took a ride with trolleys to raise awareness about victims of human trafficking. Next to the trolley young people were asking people on the high streets to sign STOP THE TRAFFIK's global declaration. People shouldn't be bought and sold.
Oasis Uganda had a community day at their Bambejja project with local government, teachers, pastors and all the parents / guardians of the girls from the project. The girls performed a drama on trafficking and great dance to the Stop The Traffik song as well as staff presenting on the issue and then the community holding group discussions on what to do, finishing off with signing the declaration.
I've made a simple game on the 'stop-the-traffik' theme. The game is at www.dur.ac.uk/d.h.jones2 – David
Pricewaterhouse Coopers in London are supporting STOP THE TRAFFIK this Christmas, profiling the campaign during their carol concerts in Southwark Cathedral and St Pauls Covent Garden
Visitors to the Compass Jobs Fair came across a stand for 'Top Jobs Abroad', a fictional recruitment agency "offering the very best opportunities". After being greeted by the friendly representative they were ushered through a door, and straight into a Red-light district window—in full view of passers by. The 'victims' then exited the window onto the official STOP THE TRAFFIK stand and were given further information about the plight of women trafficked into sex slavery through false pretences and were invited to sign the declaration to the UN.
The End Night Club in central London is supporting STOP THE TRAFFIK this Christmas using the campaign posters in the club, and asking clubbers to donate £1 on the door.
OAKWOOD Technical College 'BRICK SIGNING'
Our tutor group have done a major presentation to each house group in the college and have asked everyone to 'sign a brick' supporting the declaration which they have built into a wall. This is currently displayed outside our headteacher's office. Paul Harrison, Oakwood School.
ELY FREEDOM DAY
There was an incredible buzz about Ely as we all gathered together with a brass band, the chained children, placard and banner carriers plus the Mayor and Mayoress and the Bishop of Hungtingdon, John Inge, walking in procession. There were in excess of 300 people following and many bystanders who were out shopping.
Volunteers gave out flyers explaining what the day was about and in all over the last few weeks we have distributed 3000 flyers!
The procession ended up on the Palace Green in front of the cathedral where there was a wonderful address by the Bishop leading into a short prayer before a minute silence for victims of human traffiking. The silence was broken by a lone piper playing Amazing Grace. It was a very moving scene—many people were in tears including us! The Bishop then freed the 'slave' children whose FOR SALE placards were then turned over to read NOT FOR SALE. When they were free the church bells rang and a group in the crowd rang handbells and people clapped!
We had stalls in a marquee and on two floors of the cathedral centre:
- letting people know about the chocolate campaign
- displaying work of various charities working to fight people trafficking
- a freedom wall for people to sign
- amazing graphic posters by a local artist
- display of arts/poetry competition entries which local schools and churches took part in
- the slavery then and now exhibition
The most important results was that many people have signed both the global petition to the UN and the local Ely petition.
We have been asked by the Cathedral to put the whole show on during the next 2 weeks during which time 3000 children will be going through on educational days—all on the subject of slavery!
One of many encouragements of the day was that 2 girls were later overheard in an Ely shop saying 'No we don't want that chocolate—we only want fairtrade'.
We’ve gathered 1718 signatures that we have raised in Cornwall, these have been raised from churches, the churches together tent at the royal Cornwall show, and from outside the cooperative supermarket in Wadebridge and some local organisations. We have recently contacted our local MP Dan Rogerson MP for North Cornwall who is very supportive and is going to write to the chocolate companies to ask them, what they are doing about slavery in the chocolate industry. I have attached a photo of him signing the petition outside Lanivet Methodist Church, the church is on a main road and as you can see we have the banner displayed for all passing motorist to see.
Paul Jeffrey and Carol Miller
Watch the Youtube video 'Stumpy goes to London'
Steve, Rich, Emma, Jonathan, Dave, Catherine and Sally-Anne embarked upon cycling from John O’Groats to Lands End, just over 1000 miles in 12 days, in order to raise awareness and finance for STOP THE TRAFFIK.
Freedom day in Enfield ran by the youth of Enfield Baptist Church
The day included the young people and adults of Enfield Baptist Church (EBC) campaigning for signatures in Enfield Town Centre, they managed to get 700 signatures in one morning!
A coffee morning ran at EBC with fair trade cakes and drinks. A freedom wall was made with the handprints of everyone there.
In the evening the young people put on an acoustic gig with a fair trade cafe running through the night. Another 100 declarations were signed that evening.
From the coffee morning, gig and sale of STOP THE TRAFFIK goods Enfield Baptist Church raised around £500 for STOP THE TRAFFIK.
The New Zealand Call to Action
If you knew there was slavery in the food and drink you consume and clothing you wear would you care? Would you take action if there was something you could do? Well there is. It is not currently illegal to bring products into NZ that are known to use slaves in their production but we think it should be. Trade Aid, other NGOs and concerned individuals from all over are asking the NZ government to implement a law that would make it illegal to import products known to use slave labour in their supply chains. You can sign this petition to the New Zealand government on-line and then you can check out other actions that will make you part of the solution. www.tradeaid.org.nz
'Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down' —Mary Poppins
A spoonful of sugar not taken by an estimated 300,000 people in Great Britain over 200 hundred years ago in protest against the use of slave labour in the production of sugar had a powerful effect. So powerful in fact those retailers previously selling slave made sugar were quickly sourcing alternative suppliers and pasting up notices in their shops declaring their sugar to be slave free.
Our youngest abolitionists, the children of Central Division, received their spoonful of sugar via a bar of fair trade chocolate when they met recently for their children’s council in Levin. Their theme for the weekend was Freedom and they spent time learning about historical slavery and present day trafficking, and what it means to be free or not free. The children then put their learning and reflection into action with the production of a Freedom Wall. They didn’t stop there though, as they have signed postcards addressed to Members of Parliament expressing their concerns and asking for action to be taken. They are especially asking for Parliament to encourage all manufacturers of chocolate to make sure their cocoa source is not tainted in any way by slavery.
Chris Frazer Social Justice Advocate
Awareness raising and campaigning by people aged 9-10 and the Methodist Church Equalities & Diversity Project.
The children and young people put all their learning in to action by devising prayer stations for each other to use during a time of worship, and the prayer stations were used by adults at 2 Racial Justice training events.
The Methodist Church Equalities & Diversity Project and was hosted at Lancaster Methodist Church and assisted by URC Children and youth training officer (North West) and Ripley Church of England School.
A group of 9 and 10 year old children from Gallions Primary School pupils challenge chocolate makers on the ethics of cocoa production.
At Bishop Vaughan RC Comprehensive School we highlighted the work of STOP THE TRAFFIK with our Sixth Form. The day was on Children's rights. Heather Hansen, Director of Learning Theology.
The STOP THE TRAFFIK Cube, watch a video of it here.
Living Free – A Show of Performing Arts
On October 12th 2007 at 7:30 in Totnes, Devon, Elliot Irwin 15 and Abigail Irwin 14, and their father Duncan are organising a night of quality entertainment, with all the profits going to STOP THE TRAFFIK. It will be held at the 320 seat professional theatre at Elliot and Abi’s school, King Edward VI Community College. The show already has the support of some of the town’s businesses. The local MP Anthony Steen who is the Elected Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Traffiking of Women and Children has given them his support, and has agreed to be the patron of the show. The programme includes drama, music and dance, and a charity auction. During the interval there will be fair trade chocolate and organic drinks for sale.
Gregg School Southampton—A lower school assembly based on the 'chocolate campaign' inspired much interest among the students. They had already been learning about fair-trade in R.E. and as homework created some fantastic posters to highlight STOP THE TRAFFIK. These were used to create the freedom wall in the entrance hall along with painted handprints to catch the attention of our many visitors to the school during the last week of term. 100 Freedom Keys were sold within a few days and the money was supplemented by a 'no tie' day when students paid 50p to wear a more casual uniform.
Stop the human trafficking
1 car stopping
4 hands grabbing
1 girl crying
4 hands pushing just pushing
1 door open
4 hands pushing
1 hand sticky tape gone
1 girl hurting
2 hands cloth gone
1 man looking
1 girl scared
1 man pointing
1 door open
1 man pressing
1 man stopping
1 door open
1 man gone
1 girl crying
1 door open
1 man pressing
1 man stopping
1 man gone
1 girl sobbing
1 girl lonely
1 girl hurting
1 girl praying
1 girl saying
Please help me and
Stop the human trafficking
© by Ruth Levi 10 April 2006, inspired by STOP THE TRAFFIK at Spring Harvest
Ben went on a uni student radio to talk about the STOP THE TRAFFIK and this is what it ended up sounding like.
As a group of young people we've looked particularly at the issue of chocolate, issuing a challenge to people to only buy fair trade chocolate which lots of people signed up for. To carry on the momentum of this campaign the young people created a video outlining some of the key issues in the campaign using a giant fair trade Dubble bar which we took all around the city and did some crazy things with. We've sent a copy of this video to all the supermarkets in Hereford, to the local BBC radio and television, to local newspapers, and are planning to send them in the coming days to chocolate producing companies like Cadburys with letters from the young people asking them to make their chocolate fair trade. From Claire, youth pastor at the Baptist church in Hereford.
I decided I was going to do the Sheffield half marathon ages ago, but was kinda waiting for a charity to jump out at me. Then, recently, I rented a film called Lilya 4-Ever - It's about a girl who gets tricked into going to another country and is forced into prostitution. It was so unbearably sad. So after an evening of sobbing, I decided in bed that night that I was going to raise money for STOP THE TRAFFIK.
Bantry YMCA Co.Cork Ireland held a slave auction to end a week long campaign which used a freedom wall to heighten awareness of slavery in the world and in Ireland.
FREEDOM DAY at Trefor North Wales
Chware Teg! is a group of young people from Trefor North Wales who meet regularly to discuss local and global issues. At their April meeting they discussed the issues relating to traffiking. Various workshops were held during the day to introduce the group to the issue, including creating a poverty trap, discussing individual experiences of young people who have been trafficked and creating a freedom chain. The group then presented their freedom chain to their local MP Hywel Williams at a charity Coffee Morning.
We did campaigning outside our local shops, where the vicar, the Baptist minister and our local MP got into a cage to bring attention to the horrendous travelling conditions of slaves. We got 220 signatures for the global declaration, and had coffee and carwashing going on up at the church where we had literature and videos to inform folk of the issues.
We featured in the Leicester Mercury, Midlands Asian TV network on their "Leicester in Focus" 6 o'clock news, a feature on BBC radio Leicester, and a 1 minute slot on the BBC's Midlands today TV news at 10:15pm—so we had great publicity and more Leicester people are now aware of the problems of human trafficking.
SHACKLES FOR A WEEK
I decided that I wanted to do something that was really connected to slavery and might get people thinking about some of the harsh realities of it, past and present. So I'm spending 7 days non-stop in shackles. It will be a normal week at school and home, but I'll just be locked up continuously.
My fantastic DT teacher made the shackles for me. All sorts of things had to be taken into account ... Is the chain able to be cut if I need to be rushed to hospital? Is the chain long enough to wipe my bum? Can I walk ok? Sleep ok? The thing weighs about 4 kilos and didn't leave me too sore after doing an afternoon trial run, but I've no idea how it will feel after a week. I'm getting slightly scared!
Most of my friends are in two minds about the whole thing: the words "commendable" and "crazy" feature in most responses, especially when they click that I wont be able to change my clothes. (Mum has made some felcro boxers though, so I can change them!
The main thing, is that it has managed to kick start a lot of discussion about this little known 'industry' and has managed to raise a fair amount of sponsorship which is ace.
David Newton
Third rail
Third Rail are a charity cover band, playing modern anthems and classic songs to raise money and awareness for good causes. This gigs playlist includes songs from Queen, Pink, The Kooks, Damien Rice, Daniel Bedingfield, Maroon 5, Jamelia, KT Tunstall, Pink Floyd and The Beatles.
Third Rail are a group of 7 musicians with a huge range of musical influences and performance experience, best described as ‘professional, but casual’. We play in order to raise money for charity. This year we have decided this year to put all our efforts into the STOP THE TRAFFIK campaign.
At one event they will also be having;
- Stalls from a range of STT coalition members (Tear fund, Bible Society, Compassion, Oasis and UKHTC).
- Freedom wall activity (people can add their handprints and comments calling for Freedom).
- Declaration card signing and STT keys for sale
- Fully functioning Bar
- Audio and visual presentations throughout the performance from those directly involved in stopping the traffik.
- STT Prayer room available throughout with a prayer team during the performance
Third Rail are Micheal Clements, Philip Roberts, Katie Clements, Debbie Gloster, Andy Clements, Graham Smith and Norman Ashcroft.
ST. PAUL & ST. BARNABUS YOUTH GROUP—STOP THE TRAFFIK FILM
"J-Team"—the youth group at St. Paul and St. Barnabus Church in Oldbury, West Midlands decided that the best way to raise awareness of people trafficking and the slave trade was to put on a “drama production” to coincide with FREEDOM DAY.
So they applied to the local council, Sandwell Council, for a grant. Their application was successful.
On 6th January they ran a day of workshops as a “taster” and invited any interested young people from the surrounding areas to come along. 35 youngsters experienced drama, dance and African drumming workshops. They also saw previews of “Amazing Grace” the feature film which tells the story of how William Wilberforce fought to get his anti-slavery bill through parliament. They wrote and recorded Podcasts for the CMS (Church Missionary Society) website.
They hired 5 professional actors who are currently touring the country under the name of BIG IN TENT. In 3 hours the young people were taught a drama about a young African girl who was stolen from her village and sold into slavery in England, and about William Wilberforce’s struggle to get his bill through parliament. The drama was performed in front of an audience later that night.
The day was recorded, the film edited and sent to channel 5 who aired it on T.V. and their website.
Now they are running drama, dance, media, drumming and musical workshops with these young people with the aim of performing a drama about trafficking of people and slavery on March 27th and 28th at Leasowes Theatre, Kent Road, Halesowen, West Midlands. Again the aim here is to raise awareness of these issues and prompt people to get involved and put an end to people trafficking and slavery.
Freedom Day event hosted by the Youth
Department of The Salvation Army Australia
Our Freedom Day event, to be held on the banks of the Yarra River, is hoping to attract 500 youth across Victoria mainly connected with The Salvation Army. Hugh Evans (young Australian of the year) Commissioner Jim Knaggs will both do 5 minute speeches. We are having a freedom wall to sign, selling t-shirts, Freedom Keys, we will also have kids with "For Sale" placards around their necks. The other 'stunt' we are trying to pull off is filling a bus with as many youth as possible to highlight the appalling conditions that children are often trapped in for days.
It is expected over 5000 people from the general public will walk past during our event.
Here are a couple of pics of what the Durham university STOP THE TRAFFIK group has been up to recently. We were allowed to go to a DJ night at our student union (where the fun lovin criminals had a DJ set) and wear the very attractive t-shits which you'll see in the picture, carry round the sign, got more than 60 signatures, and had a bit of a boogy too!
We also have a talk coming up on 'INHUMAN TRAFFICK: Facing up to the global problem of human trafficking.
Over 30 employees, friends and family of Lansons Communications are taking part in a sponsored run on 25th March to help raise awareness and funds for STOP THE TRAFFIK. They’ll be running a Square Mile:
- Old Street -Moorgate
- Moorgate—London Wall and down Bishopsgate to Monument
- Along Cannon Street and Queen Victoria St to New bridge street (Blackfriars bridge)
- Up New Bridge Street and Farringdon St / Road
- Down Clerkenwell road leading onto Old Street
- Before Old street roundabout, turn left onto Bath Street, straight onto Shepherdess walk to The William
- William IV pub, displaying a STOP THE TRAFFIK banner outside, and serving William Wilberforce Freedom Ale (fair trade).
On Sunday March 11th members of Upper Norwood Salvation Army youth group (plus a few others) are going to ‘travel for traffik’. This means that we are going to travel around London on the tube and try and visit every tube station in central London. There are just over 60 underground stations in the centre of London so this may take quite a while. At each station we will take a picture of the sign to prove we have been there and we will try and get our STOP THE TRAFFIK freedom keys or wristbands in the picture too. William Wilberforce was one man who mobilised a swell of voices to speak out against injustice and make a difference that impacted the world. You can be a voice that influences others by joining us when we travel or by sponsoring us to complete our journey. If you would prefer, you can donate online by clicking the link below.
Check out their myspace page www.myspace.com/travelfortraffik
The Westerham Brewery
The Westerham Brewery is pleased to announce the launch of one of the only Fairtrade beers available on draught. ‘William Wilberforce Freedom Ale’ will be launched during Fairtrade fortnight, which begins on 26th February.
Freedom Ale is made with Fairtrade Demerara sugar from Fairtrade plantations in
Malawi, southeast Africa.
The beer commemorates the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade. The Westerham Brewery supports STOP THE TRAFFIK and will make a donation from the sales proceeds of the beer to support their work in fighting slavery today.
Belper Baptist Church
Stop the Shopping.
Friday 1st December saw the enthusiastic and energetic STOP THE TRAFFIK group from Belper Baptist Church hit the local shopping thoroughfare distributing Declaration Cards and leaflets about STOP THE TRAFFIK. The group erected a stall and a Freedom Wall, which was later signed by the Belper Town Mayor as well as many passers-by as they were persuaded to put their shopping down and hear how they can help stop modern day slavery. Friday marked the final distribution of 1,000 cards in and around Belper in the past 9 weeks, the aim is to get 2,000 (approximately 10% of the population of Belper) signed before 25th March, Freedom Day.
HULL FREEDOM TRAIL
The Hull Freedom Trail is a radical expedition that will take 20 people across countries and continents in a mission to deliver a gift of five four-wheel drive vehicles as humanitarian aid in Sierra Leone. The team will leave the UK in the first few days of March 2007 and shall arrive in Freetown on March 25th 2007 (Freedom Day).
The vehicles will be driven overland through Europe and North West Africa by the team of 'Trailblazers', along a route including locations relevant in the slave trade of the past and human trafficking of present day. On arrival in Sierra Leone the team will attend a Civic celebration event in Freetown where they will link up to Hull for a live broadcast and a handover of the vehicles.
Every trailblazer will be helping to fund their own place on the project; individuals are drawn from a variety of backgrounds and experience. Each vehicle will have 2 drivers and 2 passengers, allowing 20 people to take part in the expedition. There are currently enough people committed to make the trail possible, but there are still places available for people with specific skills and expertise!
Hull Freedom Trail needs support to make this vision a reality. Can you or your organisation help, your contribution could make all the difference and you will be involved directly in seeing how your pledge can make a real lasting contribution into reversing the modern slave trade. Get further information on how to support the Hull Freedom Trail or get involved.
10 Feb 2007 FATA MORGANA at Bilzen, Belgium
A Fata Morgana event was organized by 2 local church youth groups and a visiting youth group from the Netherlands. Fata Morgana is a popular TV show were a village or town has to take the challenge to organize a big happening in limited time. The challenge was to organize a benefit concert for STOP THE TRAFFIK, gather at least 200 people to the concert and hand out a slave-free hot chocolate to all of them, build a Freedom Wall at the market square and collect signatures for the STOP THE TRAFFIK declaration, wrapped up in chains.
Towards the end of the concert it was clear that all challenges were done very well by the youth groups. There was a lot of fun, but with 700 signatures some awareness about human trafficking was raised. People were very responsive to sign the Declaration and the young people did a great job telling people about the need to stop the traffic!
The mayor and councilors who attended the event were surprised to see young people fight against injustice and make a difference. The event was covered by several national and local newspapers, which helped spread the word.
To be continued!
Carlisle Clarke
The remnant poet
STOP THE TRAFFIK
Not of vehicles but of the public
STOP THE TRAFFIK of human cargo
Slavery was abolished 200 years ago
Yet the trade continues to flow
Let's kill if off with a deadly blow
Slavery is far from over
prostitutes have replaced cotton pickers
instead of being at school children are slodiers
girls are tricked and trafficked into sex slavery
lets end this abuse and their misery
set the captives free
Becca Brierley
Jesus said '... the truth shall set you free', but sometimes, the truth can also overwhelm us. I wrote the song 'Freedom' in response to feeling overwhelmed by the injustice in the world and struggling to know therefore how I could help and how I could best pray for the vast amount of suffering. I was reminded of the passage in scripture (Luke 11:1-13) where it talks about a man knocking on the door of a neighbour in the middle of the night, asking for food. Rather than give up when he wasn't let in the first time, he kept knocking on the friend's door desperate for an answer. Jesus taught that this is how we should pray to God and how we should live our lives - with persistence, with passion, with faith. With an issue as heartbreaking as people traffiking and slavery, it is easy to feel completely helpless and overwhelmed. But be encouraged by Jesus' words to keep praying in faith and to do what you can (however little) to join in the fight for freedom. The type of freedom that literally brings us to our knees in desperation - freedom that every single human deserves.
'Freedom' by Becca Brierley
File type: MP3,
File size: 2.8mb
Jack and Nick's busking Marathon
To raise awareness of people trafficking and fairly traded produce Jack and Nick will play and sing from 8.00am till 6.00pm, 10 hours straight, on Saturday 3rd March at Tooting Bec Common (alongside Emmanuel Road).
If you would like to sponsor the busking duo donate at www.justgiving.com/buskingmarathon.
Paul Field
Freedom was the last song written for the Cargo project (www.paulfield.com) and I wanted something that would tie up the different threads, historical and contemporary that had gone before. Lyrically I tried to write something that both very simply emphasises the right of every human being to be free and also our responsibility to work to end today’s slave trade. We can choose to do nothing or we can choose to do something but the one thing we can't be is indifferent.
'Freedom' by Paul Field
File type: MP3,
File size: 5.7mb
Charlotte Wilberforce
It's the 200th Anniversary for the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade on the 25th March 2007. William Wilberforce (my great, great, great Grandfather) led the way to abolish the Slave Trade and got the bill passed in 1807.
To mark this prestigious time, some of the charity committee members at my work, Lanson Communications, are helping me to put on some fundraising events to raise money and awareness about modern slavery - such as people trafficking. Lansons will be supporting STOP THE TRAFFIK and one of the ways you can help me raise money, is to sponsor me to QUIT SMOKING! (Yes, I'm freeing myself from my slavery to tobacco!)
If you would like to sponsor me, you can donate at www.justgiving.com/wilberforce2007
Ruhama
Ruhama, a member organisation of STOP THE TRAFFIK, has co-branded the Freedom Key and will be selling them in Ireland from February 2007.
The sale of the Freedom Keys will launch a campaign to raise awareness of women enslaved in sexual exploitation in Ireland.
www.ruhama.ie
Wokingham Baptist Church
Young people led a service at their Church telling people about STOP THE TRAFFIK and urging people to sign the declaration cards. The young people also made presentations about STOP THE TRAFFIK in their local schools through assemblies and lessons. Rhiannon Wynne Coe, a member Wokingham youth work, wrote a poem about trafficking:
'How can you speak with a silent voice?
Can't say yes or no as you have no choice.
Having sex for money is a horrific way,
As you follow orders and have no say.
Young kids of age 12, terrified by their boss,
Threatened to work to prevent a family loss.
Life is important but you just want to smile,
Not get stolen from parents for a long while.
These people need help and support from you,
Now you've heard their suffering and its all too true.
Justice is needed, trafficking has to now end,
Join us together for the love that we send.'
Werrington Parish Church
During the summer, the youth of Werrington Parish Church got together and decided to raise some money for the STOP THE TRAFFIK campaign. They held an auction of jobs and each young person all volunteered to do different jobs, ranging from car washing, shopping, dog walking, gardening, baby sitting and many more. Tickets were then sold for the auction and lunch. The lunch and auction went really well, and STOP THE TRAFFIK were delighted to receive the proceeds of this auction! (£2599.90)
Acts Youth Group, Didcot
Acts Youth Group have been passionate compaigners for STOP THE TRAFFIK. Over the Christmas period they held a STOP THE TRAFFIK stall at the Christmas Street Fair gaining 300 signatures to the Global Declaration and selling Freedom Keys. Following this, the group led an advent service using drama, music, prayers and media to tell people about STOP THE TRAFFIK. Acts Youth Group continue in their campaigning and are planning a Freedom Day event.
Kay
My name is Kay and I’m 14 years old. I was sponsored to get my hair cut off for STOP THE TRAFFIK, raising £265. I am a Christian and found out about STOP THE TRAFFIK when I was at Spring Harvest in April. The stories that they told us about people who had been trafficked were unbelievable and I wanted to help in any way I could. I thought that I would get my hair cut off because I knew that people at my school would sponsor me for something as outrageous as that.
Linda Baines and Corni Chalke
During the school holidays Linda Baines and Corni Chalke set up art workshops in the children's clubs at Church.co.uk, Waterloo, UK to educate on people trafficking and the work of STOP THE TRAFFIK. Using recycled materials, the children made collages of a child and a key; the key was particularly significant, as the children glued drawings of what they envisaged freedom to be inside the key. These two small projects were used alongside the STOP THE TRAFFIK videos.
