A Holloway-based charity for vulnerable women has won a national award.

A counselling service for women trapped in street-based prostitution or who have been the victims of trafficking, Street Talk, has bagged the Centre for Social Justice’s (CSJ) Maxie Richards Addiction Award 2020.

The think tank’s annual awards recognise grassroot, poverty-fighting charities and social enterprises across the country.

Street Talk, based in Holloway Road’s Resource for London, was founded in 2005 by NHS therapist Pippa Hockton to address inequalities within mental health care.

READ MORE: Homelessness support groups want housing secretary to fund Mildmay Hospital care for rough sleepers with coronavirusIt delivers counselling in prison, rehab, hospital and bail hostels to vulnerable women.

As well as receiving a £10,000 grant prize, Street Talk has the opportunity to be profiled in front of hundreds of leading figures from different industries, including senior politicians, philanthropists and business and charity leaders.

The award will be presented to Street Talk by TV celebrity and Channel 4 presenter Cathy Newman at the CSJ Awards, which will be broadcast as a series of short films online amid the coronavirus pandemic this year.

Andy Cook, chief executive of the CSJ, said: “It (Street Talk) works day and night to support London’s most vulnerable women, who often lack basic family and emotional help, and at great personal cost.

“It is charities like Street Talk that particularly deserve our attention. Street Talk’s work is hardly recognised for most of the year, even though they are saving dozens of young women from the harsh reality of London’s streets.

“We are proud to give them the Addiction Award, and hold them up as a model for the UK’s hardworking charity sector, which despite lockdown cuts has proved more essential to this country than ever before.”

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative Party leader and CSJ co-founder, introduced the week-long event on Sunday, September 13.

There are five other CSJ award categories - work, criminal justice, education, family and financial inclusion.

The winners of those categories will be presented their respective award by celebrities including Rachel Riley, Cathy Newman, Simon Thomas, Chris Smalling and Courtney Lawes.