A moment of prayer
To all of our wonderful supporters
Thank you
Dear friends, as we step into 2025 we want to take a moment to reflect on the past few months with gratitude. It has been a season full of connection, hope and cherished memories with the incredible women we serve in Bristols indoor sex industry.
A look back on the last few months
We have begun visiting new parlours, and as we move into a new year we are excited to see relationships start to form in these new spaces. It is a privilege to meet and support new women, offering them friendship and care. Christmas Celebrations
December was a beautiful season! We shared a Christmas meal with some of the women, enjoying laughter, conversation and a sense of belonging. We also hosted a Christmas craft event, and the items the ladies made were displayed at Treefest (A Christmas tree festival at St Mary Redcliffe Church), a special opportunity to celebrate their creativity.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of partnering churches, financing and creating many beautiful Christmas gifts, personalised hand writen cards, and hampers, ensuring the women felt valued and remembered during the festive season
We have also had a very generous amount of luxury toileteries and cosmetics gathered and donated to us. The joy and appreciation we see when we deliver these gifts is a reminder of how powerful a simple act of kindness can be. Each donation makes this possible, and we want to thank each person, church, and organisation that has contributed.
*If you would like to gather some people to donate and pack up these type of bags, please contact Melissa.
Wellbeing & Practical Support
At the start of the year, we enjoyed a wellbeing walk, a peaceful time to connect and reflect.
We also had the privilege of supporting one lady as she had a baby and moved into a new home. Helping with financial support, applying for grants, providing essentials, taking her to hospital appointments and ensuring she had everything she needed to settle in comfortably.
Looking ahead
Trip away - In February we will be taking a group of women to a Women's Christian Conference weekend. Offering them space to rest, reflect and be encouraged, at the same time as stepping away from daily pressures.
Wellbeing Trips - Each month, we run a wellbeing trip to help build friendshipsand provide moments of joy. In March, we are excited to take the ladies to the Ballet! A new experience for many.
Easter Gifts - We hope to bless the women with Easter gifts. If you, your church, or organisation would like to donate, please do get in touch.
VOLUNTEERS
The staggering amount of hours volunteers have offered their time to Beloved in 2024 is...........1500. This is hugely appreciated.
We value each and every one of you, and we want to thank every single volunteer for giving up your time, expertise, energy and passion supporting this wonderful work and serving the vision of Beloved.
We have a Volunteer Outreach training session coming in March, where we have 10+ new volunteers joining our outreach team . This is a huge encouragement to us and we look forward to working alongside you.
*If you are interested in volunteering with Beloved, please do email Melissa : Volunteers a_t beloved d_o_t org d_o_t uk
There are a variety of roles available, for example: Bakers/ Gift bag packers/ Drivers etc
New
We are excited to be beginning a research piece to evaluate the needs of our women and our service, watch this space for outcomes.
Heartfelt thank you - We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Faye, our incredible operations and finance lead. Her dedication, expertise and hard work behind the scenes keep everything running smoothly, ensuring that we continue to support the women we serve with care and consistency.
Thank you, Jen!
We want to extend a huge thank you to Jen for leading a team over the past 6 months in guiding a University student project that has explored the concerning trend of university students in the UK turning to the sex industry due to financial pressures and poor mental health.
Through her dedication and hard work, great connections have been made, important conversations have been sparked, and a social media page has been established to raise awareness and offer support.
Thank you for laying the foundation for meaningful action.
Sharing our mission - In March we will be sharing at Bristol Homlessness Forum about the needs of women in the indoor sex industry. Along with many church engagements which we are very thankful for, these enable us to raise the profile and awareness of our work.
United in Prayer
We warmly invite you to come together to lift up the women in our city in prayer. Together we can make a difference through the power of prayer and unity. Everyone is welcome.
Exciting Opportunity
Join Us for a Life-Changing Fundraising Week!
We are very excited to warmly invite you to join in Beloved's 'Fundraising Week' from Monday 16th June - Sunday 22nd June 2025.
The idea is that we pull all our efforts together as a community in the same week, as either individuals, Offices, Churches, Schools etc, to raise money for and awareness of our Bristol based charity Beloved - https://linktr.ee/Beloved_Bristol
We are doing this to support some of the most hidden & marginalised women in our city, who find themselves in the cycle of the indoor sex industry. These women deserve to be seen, heard, and supported, and with your help, we can make a real difference.
Every penny raised will go towards providing crucial resources, support, and hope to those who need it most. Together, we can raise the profile of this vital charity and ensure those we supoort know they are not alone.
How to get involved:
You can set up your own fundraising page on our stewardship website (Details below).
Please be as creative as you like!
You will have your own goal of how much you would like to raise for Beloved, and you will choose what you would like to do.
We will share many ideas below, however feel free also to bring your own ideas to the table.
Thank you so much in advance. Every single penny helps, so please don't worry how big or small you would like to go.
Fundraising Ideas:
- Host a bake sale
- Tough Mudder
- 5k Run/Walk
- 10k Run/Walk
- Cold water swim
- Sponsored Silence
- Quiz night
- Skydive (link to book below)
- Church gift day ( arrange an event with your church/homegroup to raise money & awareness)
- Sports challenge
- Dress down office day
*Side note 1- If a fundraising event (Ie: 10k/ Tough Mudder etc) is organised for a different date, you absolutely can still raise money for Beloved on whichever date it is organised for. We will add yours to the total raised.
*Side note 2- A few people are doing the Bristol 10k on 11th May to raise money for Beloved. If you woukd like to join them, here is a link to their whatsapp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DrH2jooAwJFHJrDhjGFR33
More Very usful Fundraising ideas link: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/fundraising-ideas/
Option 1 -Setting up a fundraising page to raise money for Beloved:
Start by making an account with Stewardship using this link:
1-https://www.stewardship.org.uk/fundraising-supporters
2- Scroll down, click on 'Create a new Stewardship ID' to get started
3-Sign in with new account details
4- Go to 3 lines in top right corner
5- Click 'Fundraising'
6- Click 'Let's go'
7- Search for Beloved
8-Click on Beloved
9-Click ‘Create page’
When is says ‘Fill out a custom URL, please just choose what you would like your page that you will send people to be called - Eg: SponsoredwalkBeloved
*For partener contributing - Please tick No
Then click 'Create Page'.
Now you are registered!
All you need to do now, is make the page your own. Write Information you would like people who will sponsor you to see. Feel free to personalise it and add pictures too.Then you share the link with as many people as you can. Thank you VERY much for choosing to fundraise for Beloved.
Option 2:
If you raise cash. Please transfer with the reference 'Fundraising Week' to:
Bank Details:
Bank: Co-op
Sort Code: 089299
Account Number: 67258633
Account Name: Beloved
*An example of a fundraising page for Beloved through Stewardship: https://www.stewardship.org.uk/pages/skydiveforBeloved
*If you woukd like to do a skydive for Beloved, please use this link: https://booking.skylineevents.co.uk/?add=71&referrer=charity&charity=102953&siteid=50
Thank you Thank you Thank you
With love, from all at Beloved
Please email Melissa on: Volunteers a_t beloved d_o_t org d_o_t uk if you would like help to set up your fundraising page through Stewardship or have any other questions regarding the 'Fundraising Week'.
Prayer
Thankful for:
- We are thankful to God for financial provision
- A successful student pilot & connections with universities
- We have helped a number of women move house recently to safe places
- We have seen a number of women exit the sex industry and we have been able to support them in their journey
- Caseworkers have supported a number of women in clearing their debts & having a fresh start
- Our volunteers who give of their time to serve this vision
- We continue to receive positive feedback from other agencies, & the profile of Beloved is being raised
Pray for:
- Inner healing for women facing past trauma
- Connections to build in the new venues we are visiting this year
- The newest ladies to connect with our caseworkers outside the parlours
- Employment opportunities
- The women we work with to find safe and affordable accommodation
- New team settling in and recruitment of others
- Our research project gathering information & data from the women. That they would feel able to share so we can better understand their needs
THANK YOU
Everything we do is made possible by the generosity of our supporters. Whether through prayer, financial support, donations, or volunteering, your kindness makes a real difference.
We're so grateful for your ongoing support, thank you!
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