An international coalition of anti-slavery charities is urging as many people as possible to sign up for Bermuda's first Run For Freedom.

Stop The Traffik, the group which will benefit from Charlotte Wilberforce's project next March, says cash raised and awareness generated by the run will be vital for its campaign to end human trafficking across the world.

Ms Wilberforce, the great-great-great granddaughter of slave emancipator William Wilberforce, is setting up the event to put pressure on global leaders to end the captivity of more than 12 million men, women and children worldwide.

Stop The Traffik's Peter Stanley yesterday called for hundreds of Islanders to put on their running, or walking, shoes to ensure the Run For Freedom is a success. "Support Charlotte as much as you can. We would like the whole of Bermuda running around on March 23," said Mr. Stanley.

"Bermuda is an island that prides itself on an international outlook.

"It's financial industry is an international flower. On one side it has America, and it also has strong links with the UK.

"People trafficking is an international issue and it's something everyone in Bermuda should be concerned about."

Ms Wilberforce, 28, who arrived in Pembroke from England earlier this year, says she has been inspired by her ancestor, who fought against the odds to push anti-slavery legislation through British Parliament 200 years ago. She organised a Run For Freedom in London earlier this year to mark the bicentenary of William Wilberforce's Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and wants to create a similar event here on March 23, two days before the anniversary next year.

It is hoped hundreds of people will take part in a three or four mile sponsored run or walk in or around the City of Hamilton. Cash will go towards Stop The Traffik, which represents more than 800 anti-slavery organisations in more than 50 countries around the world.

On Ms Wilberforce's efforts, Mr. Stanley said: "The great thing about Charlotte getting involved in this is that it gives us a link to what William Wilberforce and the other campaigners did 200 years ago.

"What Charlotte is doing is a wake-up call to everyone. We are saying that modern day slavery is here, and something needs to be done to stop it."

Mr. Stanley said recent research showed people trafficking was a growing problem, with at least 880,000 thousand people trafficked across borders every year ¿ an average of two every minute. According to the European Union, traffickers earn a total $24 billion a year.

Stop The Traffik aims to put pressure on world leaders through education and advocacy, and it has projects in countries including Albania, Cambodia, China, Estonia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Phillipines and Uganda, where trafficking, be it sex trafficking, for young people to work illegally as au pairs, or any other form of people trafficking, is a problem. According to Mr. Stanley, human trafficking is also creeping to parts of the world people may not expect.

"In the UK, people say 'there's no trafficking in my area', but a recent report showed that every single area in the UK is affected."

Over the next few months, The Royal Gazette's Break The Chains will feature updates on the plan for Bermuda's Run For Freedom, which Ms Wilberforce hopes can ultimately become an annual event.

We are also urging readers to sign Anti-Slavery International's on-line Fight For Freedom declaration, which demands governments around the world take action to end all forms of modern day slavery.

To sign the petition, log on to www.antislavery.org/2007 and add your details.

Will you be running for freedom? Call Tim Smith on 278-8359 or e-mail tsmith@royalgazette.bm