A GROUP of young campaigners from Hull addressed an audience of more than 10,000 at a march aimed at ending violence against women.
Twelve young women from The Warren's new campaign group Female Reinventing, Educating And Strengthening Humanity (Fresh) went to London for the Million Women Rise march.
Fresh was formed last October by four pioneering young women at the Warren to address the problem of domestic violence.
In just four months, they tripled their membership to 12 and were invited to speak at the march by Sabrina Qureshi, founder and organiser of Million Women Rise.
Fresh members Krystle Whiteway, of Anlaby Road, and Kyola Miller, of Orchard Park, both 19, took to the stage in Trafalgar Square and spoke about their group and its aims.
Ms Whiteway said: "It was amazing. At the march, we listened to heartbreaking stories and the despicable real truth of what still happens to women today.
"Then we got on stage. I was teary eyed, but I told them who we are, what we've done in the Fresh group and how far we've come, and that we're here to stay and grow.
"It was a life-changing experience that I'll remember forever."
Fresh was formed following a study by the Warren's learning activist Clair Atherton which showed troubling attitudes to domestic violence among many young people.
Ms Atherton said: "The results were quite shocking.
"A lot of the young men we were working with thought it was quite acceptable to hit your girlfriend and order her about.
"We thought we needed to do something about this so we started a campaign."
The group organised a range of events at the Warren to mark International Day To End Violence Against Women on November 25.
This raised �361, which allowed them to travel to London for the Reclaim The Night march two days later.
While on the march, the Fresh members met Sabrina Qureshi, founder and organiser of Million Women Rise, who was so impressed by their passion that she invited them to speak at the event last weekend.
Ms Qureshi said: "We have had absolutely fantastic and moving feedback regarding the young women's attendance at this year's march and, in particular, the testimonies the young women from Fresh gave.
"We would be proud to ask them back to speak again next year and invite the young women to a future planning meeting."
Fresh have now applied for �5,000 from The Prince's Trust to fund five days' residential training to become key peer educators through the Open College Network.
Their longer term aim is to go into schools throughout the city and talk about domestic violence.
Ms Whiteway said: "Fresh means so much to me. It has been an eye-opener.
"At first, it started as a group with interest and now we have more passion than ever, more knowledge and a need for this group.
"So many women are faced with abuse every day. The numbers are unbelievable. We're here to listen and help encourage them to speak with the voices they were born with, and not feel forced or threatened into silence."
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