CHARITY URGES ‘DON’T FORGET
CHILDREN IN CARE THIS CHRISTMAS’
National children and young person’s charity NYAS (National Youth
Advocacy Service), which has its headquarters in Birkenhead, is urging
people not to forget children in care this Christmas, as it launches an
appeal to help raise vital funding for its advocacy and support services.
more than 25,000 contacts each year from children, young people
and children’s service professionals. A third of the children who call
the helpline are under the age of 10. The service gives thousands of
children access to the help they are in desperate need of, but it costs
£170,000 to run each year and receives no official funding.
The charity’s Independent Visitor Programme, a befriending project
that matches young people with independent volunteers, to share
new activities and inspirational experiences.
The provision of free legal advice and support for children and young
people who fall outside legal aid guidelines and are not funded by
Legal Aid.
A peer mentoring initiative that enables young people to draw on
their experiences and support others in care by training as peer
mentors.
As part of the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge, the UK’s biggest online
match funding campaign, NYAS is appealing to businesses and individuals
across the North West to help it raise £5,000. Anyone donating to the NYAS
cause during Christmas Challenge Week, from the 27th November until
the 4th December, will see their donation match-funded, giving them the
opportunity to make twice the impact with the money they pledge. The
funds raised by NYAS will be used to support a range of initiatives aimed
at improving the lives of children in care, care leavers and those who are
on the fringes of the care system. •
NYAS is a rights-based charity which operates across England and Wales
for children and young people, providing them with advocacy and legal
representation when important decisions are being made about their lives.
The charity, which is headquartered in Birkenhead and was set up by a
Merseyside social worker in 1979, also operates a network of volunteer
independent visitors to befriend and act as role models for young people
who are in need of support. The children and young people NYAS works
with might be in care, have a disability or special needs, be subject to
child protection plans, have mental health difficulties or have parents
who are separating. Annually, NYAS supports nearly 10,000 children and
young people in care. The majority of NYAS’ income comes via restricted
funding that has to be committed to the delivery of local authority service
contracts. Additional money raised through fundraising represents a vital
source of unrestricted income that NYAS can use to provide a range of
direct support to children and young people in care across England and
Wales. Rita Waters, NYAS Chief Executive says, “There are 73,000 children in care
in England alone, according to recent government statistics, and, as many
of us look forward to sharing a special Christmas with our own children,
it’s important to remember those young people for whom Christmas
might be a particularly challenging and difficult time of year. We’re asking
the local business community and individuals in Wirral and across the
North West to help us demonstrate to these young people that they matter
and that we want to make things better for them. The money raised will be
used to fund a range of NYAS support projects, so essential at a time when
funding for children’s services in general is under enormous strain. Having
been a part of the Wirral and Merseyside community for almost 40 years,
we’re confident that the generosity of local people and organisations will
shine through when it comes to supporting our campaign, as we strive to
give a voice to thousands of under-represented children and young people.
And the fantastic thing about the Big Give Christmas Challenge is that one
donation equals twice the impact.”
Specific projects set to benefit from funds raised via the Big Give Christmas
Challenge will be:
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NYAS’ freephone National Advocacy Helpline, which ensures all
young people can easily access advocacy support via the phone and
online. The NYAS helpline lies at the heart of the charity and receives Donations to the NYAS ‘Don’t Forget Children in Care this Christmas’
campaign will be matched for 7 days from 12pm on the 27th November,
#GivingTuesday until midday on the 4th December. The minimum
donation is £5 and can be made via https://bit.ly/2An1GNl
12 wirrallife.com
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