Helping-Hand

An annual appeal to support international Salvation Army projects responding to poverty and injustice.

• Video for the 2026 appeal available soon.

Everyone has the right to live a life free from harm. Yet one in three women will experience violence in her lifetime. 

Gender-based violence takes many forms and is most often perpetrated by men against women and girls. It is not confined to one country, culture, class or generation but women living in poverty are disproportionately affected.

Around the world, The Salvation Army is walking alongside women and girls as they claim their rights, expand their opportunities and find the freedom to flourish.

It’s about challenging unjust attitudes and practices that keep women and girls trapped in violence and poverty. It’s about honouring the dignity of every person. It’s about creating pathways to freedom.

Will you stand with women and girls as they reclaim their future?

Money raised for the 2026 Helping-Hand Appeal will support international Women and Girls projects.

• £75 could help establish and train a community-based child marriage prevention committee.
• £180 could fund a human rights seminar for women experiencing sexual exploitation.
• £450 could provide educational support for twenty-five children.
• £1,125 could run a children’s drop-in centre for six months.
• £2,250 could run a children’s drop-in centre for an entire year.

Pathways to freedom

In the heart of Jashore, Bangladesh lies the city’s brothel district – a place where exploitation is a daily reality for many women and children. The paths that lead here include debt, deception and abandonment, but choice is not one of them.  

The Salvation Army has been present in this community for more than 30 years. Its health care and counselling centre offers a programme that helps women find freedom from exploitation and build safe and sustainable livelihoods, as well as a sanctuary for the children who call the brothel home.   

This quiet, radical work is rooted in compassion. Women share their stories and work with The Salvation Army to find a way out. Through skills training, literacy classes and income-generating opportunities, they are discovering new ways to support themselves and their families.