A Manchester charity, dedicated to improving the lives of the city’s sex workers, has been honoured with a Charity Achievement Award from The Lloyds Bank Foundation.
The Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH) picked up the Valuing Volunteers Award for their inspirational work in promoting sexual health, wellbeing and personal safety for helpless women.
Dan Fishwick, MASH Volunteer Co-ordinator, said explained that without the dedication of their volunteers, the charity would not be able to carry out their valuable work
He said: “We are delighted that the hard work and dedication of our volunteering team has been recognised.
“MASH wouldn’t exist without volunteers supporting our small staff team to deliver vital support to vulnerable women.”
The charity first started out in 1992 as a small van providing condoms and clean injecting equipment, but has since grown into a holistic support service.
In 2014, MASH helped 903 women to escape the sex industry through its drop-in centre, sauna outreach and fundraising.
The MASH volunteering team were also awarded a prize for ‘Breaking Through’ in Volunteering at Manchester City Council’s International Women’s Day Awards earlier this year.
Chief Executive of the Lloyds Bank Foundation, Paul Streets OBE, said: ‘We are delighted to celebrate the winners of our Charity Achievement Awards.
“MASH has demonstrated excellent and inspiring practice and has set the standard high; not just surviving in these tough times, but thriving, delivering vital services and literally transforming lives.
“For over 30 years the Foundation has supported thousands of such small and medium sized charities to tackle disadvantage in communities right across the North West and we look forward to doing much more in the years to come.”
They will now compete for the overall prize at the UK finals, held in London on the 8th October, against six other charities from across England, Northern Island and the Channel Islands.
