Hollyoaks actor, Malique Thompson-Dwyer helps Bedfordshire charity that supports children escaping domestic abuse

Malique, who is an Ambassador for Leighton Buzzard based charity that supports some of the most vulnerable young people in the UK, said he is passionate about making a difference to the children, many who have experienced emotional, violent, or sexual abuse.

Malique was brought up in a single-parent household where he and his brother and sister, shared their childhood with foster children, many of whom had been victims of emotional, violent, and/or sexual abuse. Now, as a father to two little girls, he has joined the children’s charity as Ambassador.

Malique said, “Recently, a friend of my family took his life by suicide, who too had been the victim of abuse as a child. He had spent years battling substance abuse. He would spend a lot of time with us growing up. He wouldn’t talk about it but my mum knew and tried to be there for him. When he died, we were in shock. He was so young.

When a friend of mine introduced me to KidsOut, I wanted to help. I had no idea until I started looking into it, just how many children are affected each year. It’s thousands. For some children I know that without the right help, these children will be impacted right through their adult lives – as I know from the loss of my friend.

Now as a father, I can see why my mum was and still is, like she is, rescuing every injured animal she comes across, and trying to rescue children too. It’s the want to help the helpless. So, when I was offered the opportunity to become an ambassador for the charity, I immediately said yes. And my mum, who is a trained counsellor is now involved too. She’s been incredible.

One of the things I have learned is that often the mothers will find a window of opportunity to flee and then they just grab the children and run. More often than not they won’t have time to take anything with them either, so they turn up at a refuge, often miles away, with nothing. They then often live in the refuges for months, even a year or more. With so few refuges and so many women and children, many families will have to share one room. So, these children have left their friends, other family members, their homes, school, maybe pets, and whilst yes, thankfully and importantly they are now safe from abuse, even so, their lives have been blown apart.

The charity I am supporting, provides every child in a refuge with brand new toys, new toys at Christmas, and takes them out for day trips. They also support thousands of other disadvantaged children, including some with life-limiting illnesses or disabilities. The trips they take the children on include ones to the cinema or zoo, or ten-pin bowling.

As part of many roles I want to take on for the charity, I am helping to raise funds to organise day trips to the seaside for children, to include transport, and a lunch or a picnic. I want to use my platform to raise awareness of these forgotten victims of domestic abuse, and I hope people will help me help as many children as I can.”

A spokesperson for KidsOut said, "We are delighted to have Malique's support. He has been passionate about getting involved and he and his mother have already arranged a large outing for children. It is very tough for these mums during the school holidays as they have very limited funds, if any, and children understandably need to be occupied. It's hard for a child to see their friends going on days out when they are stuck in a refuge, often with no garden. The thank you letters we get from mums whose children we take out makes our work so worthwhile, especially when we hear these little trips maybe the only ones the children will experience in a year."

To donate go to: www.kidsout.org.uk Giving Tree Shop