Ella’s Cost of Living Crisis Christmas Appeal

Aim

To provide urgent support and encouragement through the cost of living crisis for women and families affected by trafficking and violence.

Please join with us this Christmas to provide urgent support and much-needed encouragement to help women like Happy get through the cost of living crisis. Aviva will apply a 'Cost of living boost' at the end of this appeal, matching all donations made before 31 December*.

Happy is an incredible woman. She is a survivor of trafficking, sexual exploitation and other forms of violence, and a single mum of three. Life can be hard and yet she is full of hope, always able to find a positive angle. She is determined to make the best of every situation for herself and her children, Rocky (4), George (2) and Lisa, six months old . But for women like Happy, who already struggle to make ends meet, the rising cost of living is a serious threat.

A time of crisis
Happy has faced many challenges in her life. She is not used to everything being easy. Added to that, she’s come a long way during her time at Ella’s, towards building a life that is independent, safe and stable, and yet she is already struggling with the rising cost of living in the UK.

‘I’m thankful that my children and I are not out on the streets begging. But still, life is difficult at the moment,’ says Happy. ‘The price of everything is up: electricity, baby food, everything. To cope, I choose carefully what I buy. I let the children eat first, and then I eat whatever is leftover. Heating is very expensive, so all of us sleep together in one room. This way, I can just heat that one room, and we can help keep one another warm.’

Please donate today if you can, to support people like Happy and her children through the cost of living crisis.

• £30 could pay for a thermal fleece blanket for a family like Happy’s.
• £100 could pay for good-quality snow suits for three of the young children we work with at Ella’s.
• £500 could pay for around 30 hours worth of tailored, one to one support work with a survivor like Happy, empowering them with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to build safe lives in the long term.

Send your encouragement to women like Happy

The practical support that Happy has received at Ella’s so far has been invaluable to her. But for Happy, the emotional and community support she has found at Ella’s have been just as important…

‘The majority of us at Ella’s come from different countries and have been victims of some terrible things,' says Happy (pictured here with two of her children, and her Ella's support worker). 'Our worlds are different to that of other people who have not experienced these things... So many people don’t have family, they don’t have people to share Christmas with, but having Ella’s means we know we are remembered. We know that, with Ella’s, there are people who care about us.’

Happy’s words gave us the idea of inviting you to send some encouragement for the women we work with at Ella’s, as part of this year’s Christmas Appeal. To do this, visit our Christmas Appeal web page and download the bunting template, to decorate and send in. We'll then string the pieces together to make bunting full of encouragement, to hang in some of our Ella's locations.

Your donations and encouragement will make the world of difference among women like Happy. Thank you so much, and we hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

This project successfully funded on 16th January 2023