Baby buggy jogger gets ready for charity run

Lilla Tan, 37, pushes daughter Erin in her buggy during jogs around her local park in Horsforth, Leeds.

Ms Tan is training for Jane Tomlinson’s Leeds 10k on Sunday, June 19 when thousands will take to the streets to raise money for causes close to their hearts.

Some raise cash for research into cancer, others for animal charities or a local hospice.

But for Ms Tan, she supports a charity working in the bleak world of child sexual exploitation in Britain.

She is backing CROP, The Coalition for the Removal of Pimping, set up by Irene Ivison, whose 17-year-old daughter Fiona was murdered while working as a street prostitute in Doncaster in 1993.

Ms Tan became a volunteer with Leeds-based CROP after reading the late Irene Ivison’s book, Fiona’s Story, which tells how Fiona was lured into the world of drugs and prostitution.

Ms Tan, a volunteer with the charity’s befriending scheme, works to support parents of children who have been sexually exploited and are going through the difficult process of going to court.

“I read Fiona’s Story three years ago; as I turned the final page I saw that CROP’s headquarters are in Leeds.

“I got in touch and after extensive training I began to support parents. The majority are going through the courts which can be very isolating.”

She draws on her experience of growing up to help parents of teenage children.

She says: “I was a wayward teen once and that could have been me. I am a parent and look at my daughter and realise how fragile life is.”

Child sexual exploitation cuts across class boundaries and boys as well as girls can become victims, she says. Some are groomed on the internet.

Last year CROP supported 122 parents and has helped 400 families since 2002.

Gill Gibbons, chief executive of CROP, said: “We rely on the extraordinary kindness of everyday people who, just like the example of Jane Tomlinson, give their time, abilities and funds to help our charity continue the work.”

The Yorkshire Post is media partner to the event. Go to www.runforall.com

Donate to CROP via the Virgin Money Giving website.