A SINGER from Ross-on-Wye has added her voice to a campaign to end sex trafficking in the UK.

April Shipton has written and performed a single called Thirteen with her friend, Amy Box, to raise awareness of modern day slavery in the UK.

All proceeds from the single, which is released on November 30, will go to the UK charity Safe From Slavery, who help survivors of sex trafficking to feel human again.

April said: "It [the song] is really brutal and doesn't cut any corners. It follows one girl's story who was taken when she was 13, which is the average age of a sex trafficking victim in the UK."

The charity partners with churches, organisations and advocates around the globe to raise awareness on the issue of sex slavery and to abolish human trafficking.

They also provide safe accommodation with a trauma-sensitive programme.

It was when April's friend, Amy, went on a volunteer training day with the charity that the idea of a charity single emerged.

April said: "My friend went on a training day and heard all about the awful things which went on in the country. She was so appalled she wanted to do something."

At present, no government office in the UK knows the number of people enslaved in the country.

But the figures from the National Referral Mechanism – a government safeguarding framework that aims to help potential victims of trafficking – show that from January to March of this year they received 895 referrals of potential victims of trafficking, which included 232 females, 15 men and three transgender people who were potentially sexually exploited. These figures also included 75 minors.

April has been singing all of her life but has only recently started to take it seriously and juggles it with a part time job at Hope Support Services.

She write Christian music and hopes to have produced her first debut album by next year.

April, who goes to Ross Baptist Church, said: "I always believed in God. I had an experience while I had anorexia. I was prayed for and the next day it was all completely gone. I had been going through depression and things like that.

"I remember thinking, there is something to this."

Thirteen – the Safe From Slavery charity single, which was produced by ffg media, is £2.99 and is available for pre-order from http://aprilshipton.co.uk/music/pre-orders/thirteen-safe-from-slavery-charity-single/

The launch of the single is at Pitville Pump Rooms, Cheltenham. Tickets are £22.50.