The Magdalene Group is here to help support women working in prostitution and to provide support to help them exit and leave the often violent and damaging lifestyle behind them.
Women in street prostitution are some of the most disadvantaged people in society and have commonly experienced dysfunctional family lives, including time spent in care, domestic violence, child abuse, rape and sexual assault, disrupted schooling, poor educational achievement, drug use and entry into prostitution before the age of 18. Evidence suggests that the overwhelming majority of women involved in prostitution want to exit, but they find it incredibly difficult to do so on their own.
In working with these extremely vulnerable women and to help them leave sex work and abuse behind, we have to help them begin to address and overcome other key issues. We cannot do this on our own but through establishing close working partnerships with other specialist agencies, whilst we continue to provide the ongoing support and continuity to the women as they begin this often painful journey. So much of prostitution is hidden that it is very difficult to know exactly how many women are involved. The most commonly quoted figure is 80,000 women in the UK.
Our Staff
Suzi Heybourne, Director, director@magdalenegroup.org
Helen Rosbotham, Administrator, administrator@magdalenegroup.org
Sara Plastow, Jigsaw Programme Co-ordinator, jigsaw@magdalenegroup.org
Our Trustees
Bishop Peter Fox – Chairman
Keith Owen – Treasurer
Nick Miller – Company Secretary
Barbara Drake – Trustee
Caroline Elliott – Trustee
Father James Walsh – Trustee
Our Volunteers
Our volunteers contribute so much to the service delivery of The Magdalene Group are a fantastic asset to the charity. The value of hours provided by volunteers through carrying out the work of The Magdalene Group contributes in excess of £15,000 (per annum) to the local economy.
