Last night I attended a fundraiser for ‘A Way Out’ a charity in Stockton which helps young people and particularly young women out of drugs and prostitution. This organisation is having a real, positive and tangible impact on the people who come to it for assistance. It is run by Jessie Jacobs, from Hartburn, who has dedicated years of her life to the project. A few months ago I took Francis Maude MP to visit the A Way Out centre in Skinner Street and he was impressed with what he say. They do so well because they measure outcomes rather than output. They do not simply aim to “tick the boxes” to get the funding they need but instead they concentrate on actually helping those people who most need it. Their growing success speaks for itself.
Last night they launched a new project “Sarah” to help women find support and long term solutions to the problems of low self esteem, drugs and abuse.
I look forward to continuing to support the good work that A Way Out does and to seeing some of its ideas implemented on a wider scale by the next Conservative government.
