Love146 Archives - Freedom after the sharks

On 9th November 2021, Geoff Hudson-Searle, was officially unveiled as a new Ambassador for Love146 UK, an international human rights organisation working to end child trafficking through prevention, education and survivor care, with more than 18 years of experience and an excellent track record.

As an Ambassador, Geoff will become more closely involved in the charity’s work in the community and play a key role in promoting it and helping it reach more people. This includes Love 146 awareness programs and policies to the national and international communities.

This is an exciting and important new role for the charity which will help further ensure that awareness of child trafficking, and the needs of survivors, is raised to an even wider audience.

Philip Ishola – CEO of Love 146, stated:
“We are delighted that Geoff has accepted the role of Business Ambassador. This is a vital role, and we know that his experience, knowledge, and passion for combating child trafficking that he is the perfect person.

As an Ambassador with Love146 (UK) he will be part of our continuing growth to end child trafficking for good and support the survivors of it. We know that the trafficking and exploitation of children is one of the most insidious forms of human rights abuses which can take place.

Yet we also know that it continues to happen across the world, including in the UK.

Love 146 is an international human rights organisation, focused on ending child trafficking and exploitation through survivor care and holistic prevention strategies, we recognise the importance of ensuring that children have the “agency” in their own right, to not only help them rebuild their lives, but also to help raise awareness of the issues surrounding child trafficking to end it for good.

This new role is essential in doing that. Through supporting the organisation across the national and international communities and highlighting the importance of trust and hope in combating child trafficking you form a key part of the wider Love146 UK family and all those we work with and support.

Geoff has been in close contact with Love 146 UK for the last 10 years and before he was elected and since then has been coordinating with the charity on The Big Give campaign and even setting up an e-shop online.”

Following the announcement, Geoff said:

“It is a tremendous honour and privilege, Philip Ishola, to join your executive team as the Business Ambassador for Love146 UK. Continuing the support of the mission to both National and International communities across the importance of trust and hope.

All children need love and care. Trafficked children have been deprived of that. Even once they are free of the traffickers, there is a long road ahead of them to start to rebuild their lives. Love146 helps provide specialist survivor care, including in their own supported accommodation.

It’s about more than just support though, it’s about being a family, and family is there no matter what. Love146 is there for the children they work with, and they care. It’s about more than just being there though. It’s about building trust.

Children who have been trafficked have often lost that, and the first step on their journey is helping them to learn that there are people they can trust again. It’s a huge responsibility. We all know in every aspect of life how crucial trust is. Whether it is in business or working with children, trust is the foundation of healthy futures, and at the heart of everything Love146 stands for.”

LINKS
– LOVE 146 UK – Announcement
– IB-EM – Love 146 Support

The stories of children caught in trafficking and exploitation are terrible. For some of us, the depth of pain and torment is difficult to process. Just imagining what they’ve gone through affects us deeply.

But, as hard as it is to hear these stories, it is good for us to do so, because by hearing these stories, we can act now and become aware, and awareness leads to action.

Through years of working with rescued children, Love 146 found that restoration is possible. The charity have worked with children who have regained their ability to dream about the future.

Helping these children re-imagine their future, rediscover their humanity and experience childhood. It’s not easy, but healing is an achievable goal – Love 146 urgently need more funding and your support to continue this crucial work.

You can help us now

On Saturday 14th June, I was invited to a charity event by one of the charities that I support Love146. They staged a high tea and presentation in the West End of London. Love146 supports Anti-Human Trafficking internationally.

There has been much media focus on the subject recently and positive steps have been taken certainly in the UK to increase security at airports, ports, and train stations to protect innocent children from sexual crimes and trafficking. This is a subject that I feel incredibly passionate about and I support the charity in their projects and fundraising and hope you will join me.

In 2002, the co-founders of Love146 travelled to Southeast Asia on an exploratory trip to decide how they could serve in the fight against child sex trafficking. In one experience, a couple of their co-founders were taken undercover with investigators to a brothel where they saw children being sold for sex.

These children were vacant, shells of what a child should be. There was no light in their eyes, no life left. These children…raped each night… seven, ten, fifteen times every night. They were so young. Thirteen, eleven… it was hard to tell. Sorrow covered their faces with nothingness. Except one girl who wore the number 146. She was looking beyond the glass. She was staring at the founders with a piercing gaze. There was still fighting left in her eyes.…

The experience left the team with emotions that broke them. Because they went in as part of an ongoing, undercover investigation on the particular brothel, they were unable to immediately respond.

But they took her number so that we could learn and they could remember why this all started. It is a number that was pinned to that one girl but represents the millions enslaved.

Four years ago, Love146 UK recognised the need for a presence in Europe and have since opened an office in the UK with a vision to offer Survivor Care for trafficked and exploited children and young people. There are four stages strategically covered to make sure the highest quality of care and awareness is delivered:

Identification
Prevention
Survivor Care
Action

This June, Love146 Europe hosted a Tea Party event in London parallel to supporter hosted tea parties across the UK to raise awareness and share the news of the first home called “Safe Accommodation” due to open in September 2014. They also introduced the European team who are clearly passionate and active abolitionist, but also highly skilled and qualified in their individual fields.

Emotionally impacting, the event opened with a dance piece arranged by the professional dance group ‘Rebirth’ portraying a scene from a brothel with young girls being sold – it mirrored the story of how Love146 was birthed and it brought the audience right to the core of what this charitable organisation is fighting to eradicate.

In 2012, the UK Human Trafficking Centre identified 549 children who were potential victims of human trafficking. Sixty% of trafficked children go missing from local authority care. Nearly a third that go missing are never found again.

Set up cost for each new ‘Safe Accommodation’ is £77,105 and Love146 Europe depends on financial support from people, community groups, corporate’s, and grants/trusts. They need people us.

Please find more information on their website with options to take action, and how to donate.

The video shows you the harsh reality and has brief graphic moments.

Their registered address is Love146, PO Box 883, Altrincham. WA15 5ND, United Kingdom

You can contact them by email: info@love146.org.uk

For tax purposes, their Registered Charity number is 1144930

Please join me in this fight to keep children safe!