Safe Families for Children UK has been shortlisted for the Best New Charity Award at the 2016 Charity Times Awards.
Founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Peter Vardy, Safe Families for Children UK seeks to prevent children from needlessly being taken into care, by providing early intervention support to struggling families. The charity works in partnership with local authorities and aims to reduce the number of children being taken into care by 10%, year on year.
20 local authority children’s services departments across England benefit from engagement with Safe Families for Children, which recruits volunteers to provide early intervention help, ensuring children are able to stay in safe, happy environments. They offer respite care to struggling families, a mentoring and befriending service to support parents and help to provide goods and services to families in need. The charity has already provided support to over 1400 children through its network of 2500 volunteers.
Sir Peter Vardy commented: “Under increasingly challenging circumstances for local authorities across the country, it’s vital that we continue to prioritise the wellbeing of our children. It’s a shocking and distressing fact that young people who have been in care are less likely perform well in school and more likely to find themselves in the prison system.”
The prestigious Charity Times Awards are announced at a ceremony in central London. This year’s winners will be announced at a gala dinner on 28 September 2016 at the Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge.
Keith Danby, Chief Executive of Safe Families for Children UK, added: “It’s an honour to have been shortlisted for the prestigious Charity Times Award.
“Safe Families’ has a great relationship with local authorities across the UK. We believe in providing a community-based solution to a community-based problem, using local volunteers to support local families. We look forward to continuing to provide this support to even more families with a growing volunteer base, helping to keep more children in happy, loving homes.”