Being there when we’re needed most
Most Fig readers buy insurance, savings and investments to look after ourselves our home and our families. But the UK’s street children have no-one to protect or care for them. More likely, drugs will provide a kind of escape through tough times.
Every year in the UK an estimated 100,000 children run away because they're unwanted, unloved or abused. But many are never reported missing. For them, the street can seem a better option to neglect at home. Yet it does not take long before a runaway is approached by an adult who intends them some kind of sexual, criminal or narcotic harm.* And this is a better option? If you are feeling brave, imagine what a runaway's sense of home must be like.
We believe that every child regardless of living or working on the streets should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. That's why we've chosen to support Railway Children, a critical charity working with vulnerable children at risk on the streets. Aviva is working with Railway Children to develop safety nets for children who are at risk of living on the street – and for those who already do.
So we help enable projects (with funds directed to Railway Children) which give immediate support to young runaways, set up outreach education and join local authorities with community partners to run preventative education programmes.
To help raise funds for railway children, employees recently took part in the Aviva sleep out. Around 200 Aviva colleagues in the UK, US and Ireland braved various elements to spend a night on the street to raise money and awareness as part of our global Street to School programme. In total, the ‘sleepouts' also raised more than £70,000 for our global charity partners and helped to boost the profile of Railway Children. Fair credit to the sleepers – whilst this was not a night that would ever compare to the reality of being on the streets, the sleepers still took the weather as it came and experienced the torrents of drunken tirades when the pubs turf out their patrons.
A project we have started supporting is in South Yorkshire called Safe@Last. It helps young people with education and direct help including a vital 24hour helpline. Our programme ensures Railway Children is in an even stronger position to help these kinds of projects from refuge beds to runaway support workers. Since we started Street to School, a staggering 23,227 young people have been educated in runaway awareness prevention through projects like SAFE@LAST and our Street to School volunteering programme.
Because we want someone safe to be there when young people need them most, and when home is far from homely.
Sarah's story
Unbeknown to her family, Sarah was being sexually abused by a man from her home town. Over a period of five years, Sarah became isolated from her mother and sister, rarely washing or changing her clothes. By the age of 12, she had started running away from home.
Aimlessly train hopping in to the city, Sarah now risked falling into drug abuse, homelessness and prostitution. Fortunately Sarah was rescued by a project funded by Railway Children. By providing physical protection and emotional support, they were able to reunite Sarah with her family. Sarah, now 16, is studying at college and wants to be a youth worker.
*Still Running II, The Children's Society
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