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Dame Helen Mirren appeals for your help on BBC Radio 4

Dame Helen Mirren supports Barnardo's in the BBB Radio 4 appeal

Listen to the appeal on the BBC website.

Ms Mirren tells the heart-wrenching story of a 13-year-old girl called Jess, caught in a horrific world of abuse and entrapment, but turning her life around now with Barnardo’s cutting-edge help.

This abuse is insidious and calculated – girls like Jess are used and abused by someone they believe loves them. But with Barnardo’s specialist help children can escape and face their future with a renewed sense of hope and confidence.

Please help Barnardo’s to protect children like Jess and support the appeal now.


Please support the appeal and donate today.

£5 a month

£5 could pay for a child trying to escape abuse through prostitution to have two hot meals at a Barnardo’s project.
£20 a month

£20 could pay for a child to have six counseling sessions to help them express and come to terms with their trauma.
£25

£25 could pay for two Barnardo’s project workers to spend one hour on the streets at night, rescuing children at risk of sexual abuse.

£55 could pay for a Senior Practitioner session with a young person to help them to recover from the trauma of sexual abuse.

£105 could pay for 30 young people to develop the skills to prevent sexual exploitation, via a prevention education group.

Helen Mirren said:

Barnardo's | Girl looking down in distress

I have supported Barnardo’s for seven years and have been both shocked by the sexual abuse that the UK’s children can suffer, and moved by the vital work that Barnardo’s does to rescue them. Children are targeted for sexual abuse by predatory adults. It is calculated and insidious. Barnardo’s helps them escape the abuse and face their futures with real hope and confidence – something that no child should ever be denied.

Martin Narey, Barnardo’s Chief Executive said:  

There is no more important work, than our work to rescue children like Jess from child sexual exploitation. We shouldn’t have to do this, but while children continue to fall victim to the clutches of those who prey upon them for sexual and financial gain – we will do all we can to help their victims escape from their clutches. With your help and our expertise, we can help children like Jess and hundreds more like her. We know that our unshakable belief in them, gives vulnerable and disadvantaged children a real chance to turn their lives around….

Related links

Other ways to donate…

Call 0800 404 8144 or
send a cheque made payable to Barnardo’s to:
Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal
(Please clearly mark the back of your envelope Barnardo’s)