Set up in June 2000, the charity has had two primary functions until now. The first is to operate Runaways Helpline, run by volunteers with project workers on hand to ensure callers' immediate safety. The second is to run a missing persons' scheme (Misper), which works with young people who have run away and returned home, to prevent it happening again. But on 10 April, it introduced a third: to provide a safe, supervised refuge comprising two single bedrooms, two sitting-rooms, a bathroom, kitchen and office.
Refuge
Called SAFEplace, it is only the third such refuge in the UK (the others are situated in London and Glasgow), so is certain to get used. After all, one in nine children under 16 run away or are forced to leave home every year. Many end up sleeping in cars, derelict buildings or parks (see box out).
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