Photo: Alan Mak MP with his brick and some of the team from SDAS
Havant MP Alan Mak has ‘bought a brick’ to support domestic abuse victims and help raise funds to build a specialist safe house in South Hampshire.
He now urges everyone else to sign-up to ‘buy a brick’ to make the Southern Domestic Abuse Service (SDAS) safe house a reality.
During a visit to the Havant based charity on Friday, Mr Mak heard how a refuge can make the difference between life and death.
Statistics show that in the last year 1.4 million women were victims of domestic abuse and two women were killed by their partners or former partners every week. Moving into a refuge takes the victim away from the violence and can quite literally save their lives.
Mr Mak said: “I am proud to ‘buy a brick’ and support a campaign which will help local women and rebuild lives across the region.
“I successfully lobbied the government to give SDAS a £190,000 cash boost this year, and I’m proud to continue my support for their great work. Building a safe house in the region is essential and I urge everyone to get behind this excellent campaign. I’m also campaigning to secure another £600,000 for other vital work that this great charity is doing.”
It comes after SDAS submitted applications for two grants last week to the Department of Education, with Mr Mak backing both. One will be for £330,000 to help battle Female Genital Mutilation through community engagement while the other bid, worth £325,000, would fund a holistic programme to support children affected by domestic abuse. Mak has written to the new Secretary of State Justine Greening asking her to support their grant applications.
Mr Mak added: “SDAS has a track record of getting success when it comes to applying for grants. I will be lobbying hard to make sure these funds can be delivered for two very worthy causes.”
To buy a virtual brick and support the safe house campaign visit www.southerndas.org. Bronze, silver and gold coloured bricks can be ‘bought’ in return for donations of £25, £100 or £1000 and dedications and messages can also be added to the larger value bricks.
Claire Lambon, CEO of SDAS, said: “We are very excited about the ‘Buy a Brick’ campaign. It is so important that refuge provision for victims of domestic abuse is maintained in South East Hampshire. We thank Alan for his continuing support of SDAS both locally and at a national level.”