A GROUP of bikers have launched an initiative in Poole to raise awareness of child abuse.

The Daily Echo caught up with members of the Bikers Raising Awareness Against Child Abuse (UK) during Poole Quay’s biker night on Tuesday.

Members from as far afield as Wales, Oxford and Salisbury rode to the quayside to show their support for the campaign – which now has a regional representative in this area.

Biker Paul Eason founded the organisation, which is pushing for charity status, earlier this year in the Oxford area.

He explained: “I was abused from the age of eight to fourteen and it completely destroyed my life. I’ve only just started getting the right help and I am 39 now.

“I went through a lot, completely messed up my schooling and didn’t do any exams. I messed up every job and every relationship, I even attempted suicide three times.”

But Paul, who lost a leg in a motorcycle accident, aged 27, and rides a trike, finally started getting the professional help he needed. Now he’s determined to do all he can to make others who suffer the same abuse feel strong enough to come forward, report it and start to put their lives back together.

On the recent high-profile conviction of celebrity PR guru Max Clifford, Paul said: “I think it is good that he’s been found guilty, but I cannot understand how so many others can get away with it.

“I’m hoping more people will speak out because of these case we are seeing at the moment though.”

There are already 750 members of Bikers Raising Awareness Against Child Abuse (UK), with representatives across the country. Paul hopes to put on events from Poole Quay in the future.

He explained: “In each area we are going to do bike meeting and fundraising runs with all the money going towards charities and organisations supporting victims of child abuse.”