SCOTLAND
Daily Record
1 NOV 2015
BY MARION SCOTT
WALKING 10,000 miles across Europe to try to end child abuse was just the start of a journey now taking actor Matthew McVarish across the world.
The CBeebies star has just returned from Geneva, where he gave a talk to the United Nations on how to tackle the problem.
Matthew knows all about the issue from bitter experience. He was abused by his uncle from the age of seven.
He got to speak to delegates after walking through Europe to raise awareness of the issue.
He met the Pope and political leaders during his hike to press for the removal of statutes of limitations so sex crimes dating back decades can be prosecuted.
Eight EU countries have amended their laws since his walk and he has now been invited to speak in India and Thailand.
Matthew, who played buffet car manager Raymond in CBeebies show Me Too, said: “Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Malta and Romania removed their statute of limitations as a result of my walk.
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