Top charities launch coronavirus emergency fund for vulnerable children
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
High profile charities have come together to form a £5m coronavirus emergency response fund to support vulnerable children and families.
Children’s grant fund Buttle UK has established The Covid-19 Direct Emergency Response for Children and Young People Fund, backed by National Lottery funding.
The National Lottery Community Fund has pledged to deliver £2m in grants to support vulnerable children and young people worst affected by the crisis as part of its emergency response.
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High profile funders including Comic Relief, Masonic Charitable Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation have also contributed to the fund meaning a total of £5m is available, before the end of March 2021, to help children living in poverty and who are at risk of being left behind by the pandemic.
The support is designed to help provide a more level playing field for children already facing poverty before the pandemic now they have returned to school.
Buttle UK is calling on teachers, early years workers and local charities as well as those on the frontline of children’s social care to look out for situations where a child’s problems have worsened as a result of the pandemic.
A survey of frontline workers by Buttle UK as part of its State of Child Poverty 2020 report, published last month, found that 47 per cent of families were unable to afford food when lockdown restrictions were lifted.
A further 57 per cent of families were unable to afford essential household items while 83 per cent of frontline workers said they had seen an increase in need for foodbanks.
The report also highlighted a rise in domestic abuse and neglect.
It states that: “Respondents reported that the three adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that have been most impacted by Covid-19 were: mental health problems (77 per cent); levels of domestic abuse (67 per cent) and an increase in child neglect (40 per cent).”
Mary Paterson, special educational needs coordinator at St Eanswythe’s School, which has been supported by Buttle UK, said the school had seen an increase in the number of vulnerable children returning to school as lockdown went on.
“Numbers have increased rapidly as families that have lived on the edge, have gone over the edge, and children have needed to get out of the home and have some stability and routine as well as mix with their peers.
“We have seen an increase in Encompass Notifications that are generated by the police due to domestic abuse. These have been from families that normally have been able to cope, with some support. Extended family networks have not been available for respite for parents and children.”
The fund will support thousands of children with direct financial assistance up to a maximum of £2,000 as part of Chances for Children grants, aimed at improving their social and emotional wellbeing and increase capacity to engage in education.
Joseph Howes, chief executive of Buttle UK, said: “All children will have to adjust back into the routine of school, but for those described in Buttle UK’s report the challenges of returning from the isolated, chaotic and possibly even abusive home environments will have created an accumulation of issues.
“It will be schools, nurseries and other day care institutions who will be the first to identify and deal with this. Our fund is there to help those children who are at risk of been left behind by the pandemic and we would welcome applications from our professional colleagues.”