The team at the NSPCC’s specialist service centre in Co Armagh are supporting the charity’s Childhood Day next month.
The NSPCC’s second Childhood Day is taking place on 1 June, 2019 and the charity wants it to be a day for people to stand together in Northern Ireland for every childhood and against abuse.
It is estimated that one in five children in the UK have suffered the horrors of abuse or neglect.
Craigavon Service Centre is located in the heart of the Southern Health and Social Care Trust and delivers specialist child sexual abuse services across the entire trust, council area and beyond.
Craigavon is one of the NSPCC’s three services centres in Northern Ireland – the others being in Belfast and Foyle – and collectively the dedicated teams have worked directly with 500 children and families.
In 2018/19 alone, specialist NSPCC practitioners in Craigavon worked intensively with 72 children and 19 adults and provided expert advice to other professionals working in the field of child sexual abuse.
The base at Carn Drive in Craigavon features carefully decorated and resourced treatment rooms where the NSPCC’s Letting The Future In and Turn the Page services are delivered.
Letting the Future In focuses on helping children and young people recover from the traumatic and negative effects of sexual abuse and to rebuild their lives, while Turn the Page helps children and young people overcome feelings that have made them display harmful sexual behaviour towards others.
The dedicated and highly skilled team at Craigavon, has been delivering sexual abuse recovery services for almost 20 years.
Individual work is offered to children and young people between the ages of 4 and 17. It aims to help them overcome the impact of their experiences and “get back on track” – giving them back their future.
Support is also offered to parents and carers to help them deal with the impact of abuse on their children and the family as a whole.
Caroline Holloway, Craigavon Service Centre manager, has been working with children and young people at the NSPCC for 27 years, and urges local people to support Childhood Day.
She said: “The two teams at Craigavon Service Centre work with children and young people who have been impacted by child sexual abuse and help them get their lives back on track. It is so important that children who have been affected by child sexual abuse get all the help and support they need to help them recover.
“But we need the public’s support to help continue our vital work. Readers can help by buying a badge for Childhood Day.”
During the time leading up to 1 June, the NSPCC is asking people across Northern Ireland to support their Childhood Day campaign and there are three simple ways you can get involved:
– Volunteer – Join the team of volunteers on dates throughout May and take to the streets of Northern Ireland to collect donations for badges. Visit www.nspcc.org.uk/childhoodday for details.
– Get together with friends, family or in the workplace and organise a fundraising event. The charity has lots of childhood-themed fundraising ideas to help get you started.
– Buy a Childhood Day badge and wear it on 1 June to show support.
For further information on how you can get support this campaign please visit www.nspcc.org.uk/childhoodday or contact the NSPCC Northern Ireland team at northernirelandappeals@nspcc.org.uk or 028 9035 1135.
