A charity founder from Alcester was invited to a special event at Downing Street to celebrate 20 years of the Centre for Social Justice awards. 

The event, which was held at the end of May, brought the CSJ award-winners from the last two decades together to celebrate their success and the outstanding work they have done in the community. 

Pippa Hockton, aged 64, was one of the CEOs invited to 10 Downing Street having won a CSJ award back in 2020 for her charity Street Talk. 

The psychotherapist founded Street Talk more than 20 years ago and helps support women trapped in street prostitution and those who have escaped trafficking. 

She said: "I'm a psychotherapist by profession and I decided to start the charity after having a conversation with one of my therapy clients. 

"He told me that he had met with women involved in prostitution and that he would scar them. It really had a profound impact on me and it made me realise that nobody thinks about these women. People can do what he was doing and have no fear of the consequences. 

"I wanted to offer them tailored mental health support and to make them realise that someone cares if they live or die.

"To be recognised by the CSJ really means a lot to us and the event at Downing Street was fantastic. It was incredible to be surrounded by such important organisations that work across the sector and support all corners of the community."

Over the years, Ms Hockton has set out to help women feel safe, be treated with dignity and show them that they are entitled to a better life outside of sex work. 

Although the charity is based in London, it works to rehome and accommodate women across the country and takes therapy sessions to hostels and day centres. 

The team also do a lot of work around addiction and help feed into government policy. 

Ms Hockton said: "I am extremely passionate about what I do and the impact it has on the women we support. 

"One woman came to us after being sold to London from a Chinese brothel. When I was working with her, she told me I was the only person she knew in the world. It really hits you how tough it is for some women. 

"After helping her, she said 'thank you Pippa, you looked at me'. Hearing her say that was so meaningful and rewarding."

For more information visit https://www.street-talk.org.uk/