Our new friends at Flight Fitness dance studio have made the perfect donation

Crisis support manager Avril with some of the donated items.

From time to time, we receive a donation which is simply perfect - every item just the thing the women we support here are crying out for.

It happened again just a week or so ago when we collected bag after bag of toiletries, sanitary products and other everyday essentials such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairbrushes from Flight Fitness, a pole dancing and alternative dance studio in Leicester.

Its owner and founder Lauren Red invited members of the studio gather up these items for us in the run-up to the studio's annual 'Bad Girls Club Show' earlier this month.

One member, Meg, set up a JustGiving page and urged people to donate to her collection for New Futures. To date, this has raised almost £300.

Meg told us: "We chose to raise funds and gather donations for the New Futures Project because we wanted to support people involved in sex work.

"We understand that sex workers can face immense stigma and barriers to accessing support from services.

"We were pleased to support a local organisation offering a non-judgemental and trauma-informed approach to meet the needs of the women and young people using the service."

We are bowled over by the thoughtfulness and generosity shown by Meg, Lauren and everyone else at Flight Fitness.

Louise Cook, our drop-in co-ordinator, said: "They have given us enough toiletries to last us up to a year. It is such a generous donation. We are all so grateful to everyone at Flight -Fitness."

Writing on the studio's website - which you will find here - Lauren says: "I believe that whatever size, shape, background, age, style you are you can give any of the things we offer a go.

"Stepping through the front door is often the hardest part but once people are in the studio they are hanging upside down and twirling around like never before.

"I feel honoured to have been a part of so many people’s fitness journeys and love assisting people to make new friends and step out of their comfort zones a little bit.

"It's incredible watching people become more confident in their abilities and build a more positive relationship with their bodies."

The New Futures Project offers a comprehensive welfare and counselling service for women and young people dealing with sexual abuse or exploitation, domestic violence, trafficking, poverty and debt, substance use or mental ill-health.

Call us on 0116 251 0803 or send us a message at: info@new-futures.org.uk

You can find us at 71 London Road, Leicester, LE2 0PE.