MASH (Manchester Action on Street Health)

MASH is a charity providing a range of confidential and non-judgemental services to women working in the sex industry in Greater Manchester. MASH works with female sex workers, to help them keep safe and healthy and empower them to make real choices about their lives. We’ve been doing this since 1991. The service then provided condoms and clean injecting equipment together with advice and information and referrals into other services. We operated in the heart of the beat and late at night. Although our services have grown and developed these elements remain at the core of what we do and how we work. We still provide street outreach and go out into saunas as well. In 2010 we moved in to the MASH centre. The centre provides a range of services including a sexual health clinic, needle exchange, therapeutic services and life skills support. Women can drop in. They tell us they feel safe, welcomed, and able to be themselves without fear of being judged. MASH staff are able to build relationships which enable us to offer long term casework support and address issues such as drug addiction, housing and money problems. We are open day and evening. Over 50 volunteers support our paid staff team.