By Elliott West
“Close your eyes and picture this”.
Marie Hanson MBE.
Introduction
As many of you are aware I usually write on sports-related items, predominantly snooker. However, sometimes a story in the news touches my heart and I feel the need to share this story with others. I love to indulge in current affairs and politics and by chance, I was watching Sky News this morning and came across a very inspirational interview with Marie Hanson, the founder of the charity STORM (Support, Trust, Opportunity, Rebuilding, and Motivation) established in Battersea, South London in 2004. A charity that has one simple aim – to help single mothers who need support. A group that particularly focuses on members of the local population within the Black Ethnic Minority and hard-to-engage groups.
The aim of the charity STORM is to help abused women and single mothers gain the confidence and support they need to find their way into the workforce, help people dependent on benefits for years, access the education and support necessary to get back to work, steer young people away from knife and gun crime by giving them the motivation and support to change their lives and help create community cohesion. All valued targets so these members of the community can reach their full potential in life.
An Inspiration
Marie Hanson is a former Conservative councillor for Queenstown, a ward of Wandsworth, a borough that has been dubbed ‘The Brighter Borough’. Elected in 2014, she considers this achievement to be one of her proudest moments. As an elected councillor she was successful in getting several families into accommodation, petitioning the P5 bus route, and successfully bringing new opportunities to local residents. She also campaigned to help residents on the Queenstown Estate with a mould problem in the flats and helped keep the Wandsworth Community Centre out of private hands.
A resident of Wandsworth since 2011, Marie is a champion of her community and believes the local area is an ideal place to bring up children, proven by the fact that her five children and grandchildren live here. She has also been recognised for her tireless campaigning by being awarded an MBE for services to young people and survivors of abuse. She believes vehemently in what she does, largely because she has experienced some of the issues involved. A struggling single mother and someone who suffered domestic and sexual abuse from her ex-partner, becoming homeless and having to live in a car with her five children.
Marie is someone who never gave up and used her inner spirit to drive her towards not only succeeding in life despite the terrible things she experienced and went on to want to help people in similar situations. I don’t say this often but these people are the true heroes. She had the courage to escape her abusive ex-partner, a man who dangled one of her daughters out of the window, which made her feel so worthless that she had to think before she said something to him. She became emotionless. An abuser, guilty of the most horrendous crimes including sexually abusing one of Marie’s daughters.
Her ex-partner was taken to court and sentenced to ten years in prison. The presiding judge described it as the worst case of grooming that he had ever seen. Having escaped this abuse, Marie spent some time in a refuge with her children, pregnant at the time with her sixth child. She went on to get her own place and her daughter became a chef. Depressed at the time after this horrendous experience, Marie decided to self-medicate, creating affirmation notes around the house to inspire her with words such as ‘You are beautiful’, ‘There’s nothing you can’t do’, and ‘You are more than a conqueror’. These filled her house with notes that went from her fridge to her knickers drawer.
STORM
Born out of a parent’s group, STORM now works with over 2,000 women. An organisation that originally just started with four women and one that seeks to empower all those that they work with. Headed by Marie and her daughter Louise, she works with a small but passionate team. Marie’s ethos is ‘out of the darkness into the light’ and using this ethos, she has helped women, train, be educated, attend conferences and bring them back to the workplace after their horrific ordeals. She has smashed this myth that domestic violence etc. is a poor man’s disease, confined to someone on benefits or living on a council estate, anyone in society can experience it or witness it. Marie has victims of domestic abuse come to her whose husband was either a policeman or journalist. Domestic violence has no respect for a person, colour, or creed, it just happens and is sudden. Your abuser could strike at any time and unannounced.
Marie tries to smash the taboo of staying silent. In Britain, it is common for someone to walk past someone crying on the street and not to approach and offer help. She wants to be the voice for people who go through these situations, a lady who has overcome so many tribulations in life and lives every day with dyslexia. A true role model and someone who came outer the other side, stronger and empowered.
Musical Accompaniment
At the time of writing this piece, STORM will host its 16th annual peace concert tonight. This a concert that has gone from strength to strength. Being held at the Clapham Grand, the concert showcases a large number of local and international artists including its special guest Idris Elba who even helped design the clothing for the event. A key concert in South London and one that highlights the valued support that this charity gives to so many people.
