Vivastreet pledges £100,000 to support sex workers during COVID-19 crisis

We know that sex workers are currently facing extreme hardship due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis engulfing the country and the world.

Due to the strict social distancing measures currently in place, many of our users will not be able to work during this period, and we want to do what we can to help them at this difficult time.

We’re pleased to announce today that Vivastreet will be matching donations to sex worker support initiatives – primarily SWARM’s hardship fund – up to £100,000 during the coronavirus crisis.

By matching public donations we will provide vital financial help to sex workers at this time of particular need.

We are grateful to National Ugly Mugs, the national sex worker safety charity, who have agreed to provide ongoing administrative support for the match donations.

You can find out more about SWARM’s fund on their site, here, and we urge anyone who is able to make a donation to consider doing so.

We are in the process of making changes to the site that will make it easier for users to offer online services.

In the meantime we continue to urge all of our users to follow Government advice, observe the social distancing rules, and stay home to save lives.

*Update*

Further donation to Umbrella Lane

We’re delighted to announce that we’re making a further donation of £10,000 to Umbrella Lane’s Sex Worker Hardship Fund, to help sex workers in Scotland who are struggling at this time. You can donate here.

This is on top of the £100,000 we’ve provided to SWARM’s fund, to help alleviate sex worker financial hardship across the UK.

Umbrella Lane is a fantastic project, led by sex workers supporting each other, and has lots of experience working to provide resources, maintain connections, support mental health and reduce isolation for sex workers.

Scottish sex workers will of course still be able to access SWARM’s Hardship Fund.