Maya Jama sends heart out to victims of domestic violence and pledges to step up charity role
Maya Jama says her ‘heart goes out’ to everyone affected by domestic abuse at a time of year considered one of the most difficult for victims.
The broadcaster is spending her first Christmas in her new home with close family but sent her thoughts out to others who are not so fortunate.
She also said she has ‘closed the book’ on her relationship with her father, who was in and out of jail as she grew up and is a distant figure in her life.
Maya, 26, is an ambassador for Savera UK, which tackles ‘honour’-based abuse and other harmful practices within families.
She is also donating 30 per cent of profits from her Cling Cling merchandise range to Sisters Cut, a domestic violence activist group.
The presenter told Metro.co.uk: ‘My thoughts are with the survivors of domestic abuse and people with mental health issues, all the people that are in bad family situations.
‘Naturally the more time you spend at home the more of a problem these things are going to be.
‘My heart goes out to anyone in that situation. Next year I’m going to do more charity work to see what I can do to help people who are affected.’
Maya was revealed in October to be a millionaire after a flurry of activity propelling her from an upbringing in Bristol to the high life in London.
She has appeared alongside Katherine Ryan in Netflix comedy The Duchess, captained a team on ITV2 panel show Don’t Hate The Playaz, launched fashion and skincare ranges and linked up with major brands such as Adidas, JD Sports and Maybelline.
The TV star was revealed to have banked £1.3million with her company MIJ & Co two years ago and her stock is only likely to have risen since then.
She co-presented the MOBO Awards earlier this month as it returned after a two-year hiatus.
The presenter has said that her new life in south-west London ‘is surreal’ given her background ‘from a council estate in Bristol’.
But she is aware that the pressures of the pandemic have taken their toll on people’s finances, mental health and led to warnings that victims of violence have been locked indoors with their abusers.
Metro.co.uk told this week what it is like for a survivor of domestic abuse spending Christmas in a refuge, with charities saying those they help face a ‘perfect storm’ of troubles.
Christmas is already considered a ‘mini-lockdown’ by support groups, even without the limitations on movement imposed by Covid restrictions.
‘People are being affected from every angle,’ Maya said.
‘Which is why I’m so grateful to be working at this time.
‘I just try not to complain about being overworked when people don’t have jobs at all right now.’
The former Radio 1 presenter spoke about her father, who was the focus of a Channel 5 documentary she filmed in 2017 as she made an effort to reconcile with him.
She has previously said that that she visited him in jail until she was around the age of 10 when she felt he wasn’t trying hard enough to mend his ways.
‘It’s a difficult one,’ Maya said. ‘I have closed that book.
‘Of course you do think about people at Christmas, not only your own family but also people who might not be with their loved ones.
‘It is a really reflective time.
‘But I don’t know about him.’
Maya Is being joined by her mother and brothers in her plush new home for what she has said will be a ‘warm and fluttery’ Christmas.
She shared a picture of herself in a fluffy Santa hat holding a tin of £1.10 Nurishment on her Instagram account today, wishing her 2million followers ‘a great day’ with ‘lots of lovely things’.
Domestic abuse help can be sought here.