How two nuns helped transform Birmingham’s most notorious red light district

It was Birmingham’s most notorious red light zone until the community decided enough was enough. Cheddar Road in Balsall Heath was synonymous with vice until radical changes were made with the help of two nuns.

Sisters Magdalene Matthews and Maisie Nevin arrived in the area in 1986 with a mission to reach out to women vulnerable to exploitation, offering cups of tea instead of judgement and a listening ear to show they were not alone.

The couple managed to remove a number of women from sex work and laid the foundation for Anawim, a charity that supports vulnerable women. Its mission is to support women battling addiction, abuse or involvement in crime.

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CEO Joy Doal said it all started in 18th century France, where street prostitution and homelessness were rife in a particular area. A Catholic father was compelled to do something and founded an order of sisters to reach women involved in prostitution.

The order helped women through the ages and eventually made a difference in Balsall Heath. “The area was well known, you had women working from the windows, but also from the street,” Joy said.

“It was accepted and normalized, you had groups of six or eight women on street corners and women who also worked from home. It was very Amsterdam. They were feisty, strong women.