To support and mentor
children who have
a parent in prison
Some friends of the Planned Environment Therapy Trust are
working to establish a new charity - Children Heard and Seen - to support and
mentor children who have a parent in prison.
The idea has received a lot of support from some knowledgeable and
influential people, and the initial aim is to raise £5000 so that access to
further funding becomes possible. There
is a short video on a crowd funding website, and we have been asked to
circulate the link to this as the hope is to get as many people to be aware
(and hopefully to contribute to get the charity off the ground!) as possible.
Very happy to do so. Here is the link:
Children Heard and Seen
Why we need your help?
The children of prisoners have done nothing wrong, it's not their fault their parent is in prison, support us to ensure they don't suffer as a consequence of their parent's mistakes and go down the same route.
There is scant provision in England which is dedicated to the needs of prisoner’s children. These children are invisible - The number of children with a parent in prison is not officially recorded anywhere.
You can’t put a price on the support which is needed to help these children but the support can’t take place without your funding.
We take it for granted that our children can contact us whenever they want but:
· It is estimated that 200,000 children age under 18 are separated by parental imprisonment and on any given day (The Ministry of Justice (2008).
· 60% of women in prison have children.
· A prison sentence separates 17,000 children a year from their mothers (2011).
Imagine when you were at school if you heard from another child in the playground that your mother or father wasn’t away on business, staying with family, working for the government but was in fact in prison. Imagine how you would have felt and what you would have wanted and needed. Would a trusted adult have helped you talk through your worries and feelings (embarrassment, confusion, anger, guilt, shame)?
Have you been a victim of crime? To be a victim of crime can be distressing. Be part of supporting a programme which will help reduce people having to experience this. 65 % of boys with a convicted parent go on to offend and are 3 times more at risk of committing Anti-Social Behaviour. The evidence shows that with the right support young people will make choices which means they are less likely to choose lifestyles which will lead them to offend.
Children with a parent in prison are more likely to experience poverty, mental ill health, poor housing, and have poor school attendance and many other negative outcomes, but are unlikely to receive support.
Your generosity will make a massive difference to the lives of these children whose needs are not considered and supported.
How you can help?
Your support will enable us to register ‘Children Heard and Seen’ with the Charity Commission. Registration costs nothing however we have to show our income to be above £5000 which is why the initial target is £5000.
With this money we would be able to recruit, train and supervise suitable volunteer mentors to provide 1-2-1 support to children, and young people, thus providing a role model, listening ear and access to sustainable community resources (sport and clubs).
£45 would enable us to recruit, police check, train and supervise a suitable mentor to provide support to a child for a month.
£520 would provide support for a year - imagine the difference that would make to a child’s life.
Even if you could only provide a week’s support at £10 it would make a positive difference to a child’s life in ways that we take for granted.
Our initial focus is on setting up as many mentoring schemes for children of prisoners in England as possible.
If you are able please can you support in a way which enables us to not only set up the charity but also enables us to begin to change the lives of these children for the better. These children are overlooked by society and need our support.
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