At 14 years old, Aaliyah had a very poor relationship with her parents.  Lacking love and affection at home, she started going out a lot and hanging around with older men.  At first she thought they liked her for herself, but soon they cruelly betrayed her trust and started to abuse her.  On one occasion a ‘boyfriend’ pulled her out of his car by her hair and threatened to cut off her legs with an axe, before driving her to a hotel room ‘to have his friends come over and do what they wanted to me’.

It was one of Barnardo’s projects for sexually exploited children that helped Aaliyah to escape from that nightmare world.  She is now in a safe accommodation and out of reach of her tormentors.

It’s not easy for young people like Aaliyah to trust people again after going through such terrifying experiences.  Barnardo’s support workers often take a young person out of their harmful environment to a café for a meal to initiate contact.  Once outside of their harmful environment, these young people can be relaxed, speak their minds and start to build their trust with an adult that genuinely cares.

You can help young people like Aaliyah this Christmas with a Barnardo’s Real Gift. Buying a gift like a Real Meal can help take a young person out of their harmful environment to a café for a meal with a Barnardo’s support worker.

In the end this is so much more than just a meal.  You can help other young people like Aaliyah with the gift of a Real Meal and help give them the first taste of a positive future.