Children in Wales has set up a project called Including Families, to work with asylum, refugee and migrant families, communities and professionals to protect and safeguard children in these vulnerable families. The project aims to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of safeguarding children, through helping families be better integrated into communities in Wales. This includes promoting positive parenting methods to improve parenting and communication within families and keeping children safe and secure in their home environment.
The project is building on previous work carried out by Children in Wales and the Welsh Refugee Council with asylum and refugee families and take forward the learning from previous experience of work in this area. This involves increasing the level of understanding, within families, of their crucial role in their child’s safety, education, health and development and child protection law and practice in Wales, such as the principles of ‘significant harm’. This is achieved through outreach work with community groups in the form of informal group sessions, workshops and seminars aimed at families, RCOs and professionals.
The project is also developing a comprehensive range of resources, including an on-line toolkit and printed resources to underpin the work on the care and protection of children in asylum, refugee and migrant families.
Children in Wales is looking for volunteers from refugee and assylum seeking communities to help develop resources for the project.
Including Families is funded by Big Lottery. For further information please contact:
Cheryl Martin, tel. 02920 342434, email: cheryl.martin@childreninwales.org.uk
The Including Families website can be found at www.includingfamilies.org.uk. Our multi-lingual website covers a range of topics such as children’s safety, parenting, discipline, education, health and social care, for asylum seekers, refugees and migrant communities. It contains information for professionals and practitioners on cultural awareness, bi-cultural parenting and cultural child protection issues, and a section for communities and the general public, explaining the different terms used in relation to immigrant populations, addressing the myths that surround asylum seekers and refugees and promoting integration and social cohesion.
Useful links:
Welsh Refugee Council: http://www.welshrefugeecouncil.org
Welsh Refugee Council is an independent charity that empowers refugees to rebuild their lives in Wales. It has offices in Cardiff, Wrexham, Swansea and Newport.
Displaced People In Action (DPIA): http://displacedpeopleinaction.org
A voluntary organisation supporting asylum seeking and refugees, to support them in integration, education and recreation.
Barnados: http://www.barnardos.org.uk/
A major charity which runs a number of projects aimed at helping the most vulnerable children and young people transform their lives and fulfil their potential
UK Boder Agency: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/
The UK Border Agency is an agency of the Home Office. It is responsible for protecting the UK border, and is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the UK.
Safeguarding Children: Procedures and Protocols
You can download the All Wales Child Protection Procedures Review Group protocols and Procedures from this page.
Safeguarding Children from Abuse Linked to a Belief in Spirit Possession
This is the Welsh Government's non-statutory guidance document for practitioners.