It’s BBC Children in Need week, so here at Glow we wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has, or plans to, donate this Friday.
Thanks to Children in Need funding, we’re able to offer a range of support to young people who have been affected by domestic abuse across Staffordshire.
This includes two specialist children’s workers, a sensory area and outdoor play area at our Staffordshire refuges.
Our latest programme funded by Children in Need is the two-year ‘Opening Doors’ project, which supports children and young people in refuge who have witnessed domestic abuse.
As well as support, the project also provides activities and outings for children and their families to have fun together.
Opening Doors gives children the chance to be children and build relationships with family and friends. Mental health and wellbeing support is available too.
Children and Young People Programme Lead Ruth Mason-Tooth said: “In our last Children in Need funded programme, Rise, we were able to help more than 200 young people. It’s a phenomenal amount and a really good reach for a service that wouldn’t have existed had it not been funded by Children in Need.
“We’re really looking forward to continuing our work with the Opening Doors project.
“As well as the programmes, we’re also able to use the funding for different things in refuge. We have our mud kitchen and sensory area thanks to the funding, as well as a number of toys, art and craft items, scooters and basketball hoops outside.
“The funding helps us to buy items and offer support to children to make refuge less scary.”
Funding from Children in Need also helped our Children and Young People’s team to continue their work through the COVID-19 lockdowns, which included home schooling support for parents and telephone support sessions.
Ruth said: “We weren’t able to go into schools during lockdown, so we adapted.
“Children in Need gave us some booster funding through the pandemic which meant that we were able to buy the equipment we needed for virtual and telephone sessions with the children.
“We are really grateful for the funding. It means a lot to everyone that we support in refuge and in the community and makes a huge difference.”
Find out more about our services for children and young people by clicking here.
