CFAB Spring Newsletter 2013

CFAB Newsletter Spring 2013

CFAB’s 54th International Spring Fair and Food Festival

‘London’s largest and most colourful charity fair!’

Supported by our Royal Patron: HRH Princess Alexandra

All the riches and flavours of the world brought to you by the Diplomatic Missions of over 100 countries

Sample the best global cuisine, choose from an inspiring selection of ceramics, jewellery and glass, adorn yourself with scarves, hats and shoes, feel the beat of live world music, give your house a make-over with exotic flowers, textiles and rugs.

How you can help

Enclosed in this newsletter are some raffle tickets we would love you to help us sell. We would be enormously grateful for your help, and all proceeds will go towards CFAB’s vital

work.

We have a fabulous selection of raffle prizes to be won!

NEWSLETTER Spring 2013

Admissions: £5 Concessions: £2 (valid student ID) Children under 10 go free!

Kensington Town Hall Hornton Street London W8 Tube: High St. Kensington

Preview Night: 14th May 2013 (invitation only 5.30pm - 7.30pm) Open to public: 7.30pm-9.30pm

Public Day: 15th May 2012 (11am – 5pm)

“A vibrant and joyful experience, we all came

back with an eclectic mix of shopping!”

A look back at 2012..

Children and Families Across Borders is a unique UK-based charity which identifies and protects children who have been separated from family members due to conflict, trafficking, abduction, migration, divorce and asylum.

For CFAB, 2012 was one of outstanding achievement and significant success with our staff receiving the highest number of cases in recent history. This continued rise in the demand for CFAB’s services is a tribute to the effort made to engage with private individuals and local authority professionals around the UK. We will continue to engage with local authorities and other service users and hold meetings with all relevant government departments to ensure the issues we deal with are taken into account in policy planning.

Our financial year income ending on 31st March 2012 exceeded all known records for our charity which is also a remarkable achievement and a huge tribute to the energy, initative, enthusiam and dedication of our volunteers and supporters. We are truly grateful to you all.

Here is a snapshot of some of our biggest achievements last year!

We handled over

500 cases

We answered

2019 calls on the Advice

Line

CFAB launched its

brand new website at

www.cfab.org.uk

167 cases concerned children

at risk and in need of protection.

We exceeded

£895,000 in

fundraisingefforts

Our work spanned 124

countries

We trained over

600 professionals on International

Social Work Issues

For a copy of our 2011/12 annual review please email [email protected]

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A look ahead to 2013..2013’s main focus will be to maintain current income streams and increase awareness of CFAB’s services among professionals and donors.

With the introduction of a brand new membership scheme and the expansion of our robust training programmes, CFAB will be working hard to increase its brand profile within the professional arena and maintain levels of statutory income.

We will expand our social work project work with the expansion of our innovative child trafficking project and the start of a unique private fostering project and foreign prisoner’s project, as well as several research projects.

We remain confident that with the invaluable support of our volunteers and supporters we will continue to raise high levels of income through our fundraising efforts including our fantastic events programme, an expansion into corporate fundraising and through Trusts and Foundations.

Spring 2013

We helped

approximately 8,000

children


On Monday 11th March the Centre for Social Justice launched a report IT HAPPENS NOW on modern slavery in the UK. CFAB’s Andy Elvin was in attendance.

The report uncovers a shocking underworld in which children and adults are forced into lives of utter degradation, and also warns that UK authorities are largely unaware about the

scale of UK slavery.

IT HAPPENS HERE is available to read now at

http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/UserStorage/pdf/Pdf%20reports/CSJ_Slavery_Full_Report_WEB(5).pdf

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Slavery report

Over two million children around the world live in care institutions. At least 80% of these have one or both parents who are alive. Many children are in danger of becoming unnecessarily separated from their families, while many more are in need of alternative care. These children are subject to higher risks of exploitation, abuse and other violations.

The ISS network has seen the recent launch of a handbook to better protect millions of children deprived of their families entitled ‘Moving Forward: Implementing the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children.’

CFAB, as part of the International Social Service Network, is pleased to have been involved in preparing these Guidelines.

The handbook can be accessed in English, French and Spanish at

www.alternativecareguidelines.org.

UN handbook launched

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A look ahead to 2013..

Help CFAB go green!

Recent increases in postage costs have helped drive a real determination here at CFAB to reduce the posting of

multiple newsletters each year.

We would be very grateful if you could help us with this and provide an email address that your newsletter can be sent to

from now on.

Please email Christina Turner at [email protected] to provide your email

address and help us save money and go green!


New social work initiative - Front lineCFAB’s CEO Andy Elvin has been heavily involved in working to establish Frontline over the last few months.

Frontline is a new organisation aiming to transform social work education. It has been developed by Josh MacAlister, a Head Teacher and graduate of the TeachFirst programme with assistance from IPPR, Lord Adonis and ARK.

The idea is to apply the approach of Teach First to the field of front line children’s social work. Despite positive incremental change over recent years the quality of the social work profession still fails to adequately meet the needs of Britain’s most vulnerable children.

A number of recent reviews have expressed concerns about the quality of the social work profession. For example the Munro review concluded that many newly qualified social workers did not have the necessary knowledge, skills and expertise to deal with the challenges posed by child protection work. Furthermore the Social Work Reform Board criticised universities for admitting candidates who did not have the right mix of ‘intellectual and personal qualities’ to succeed as a social worker.

Frontline aims to improve outcomes for vulnerable children by:

• Making Social Work an attractive profession for top graduates

• Introducing strict quality control measures for admittance to the Frontline program

• Transforming the social work curriculum making it relevant to the task of modern social work

• Involving local authority employers as full partners in the education and training of social work students

The current social work curriculum is not fit for purpose. These issues become apparent when looking at the academic background of people training to be social workers. Of the 2,765 people starting social work masters courses in 2011, only five completed their undergraduate degree at Oxbridge and only 150 came from a Russell Group University. While this is a very narrow measure of the calibre of people entering the profession, it is indicative of the knowledge and skills that new recruits bring with them. Social work is clearly not viewed as an attractive profession for these graduates.

Frontline will aim to attract top university graduates into the profession. The program will develop them into robust, skilled and expert practitioners by giving them the knowledge, skills and expert support required.

The DfE are considering funding this project. An announcement of the decision is due in May 2013.

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ICP Dinner raises £140,000On 13th February 2013 CFAB’s 7th International Child Protection Dinner took place in the beautiful private residence of the French Ambassador. The event was chaired by Kumari Blakey, one of CFAB’s dedicated Trustees and supporters.

We were thrilled to welcome Paralympic Gold and Silver Medallist Mark Colbourne who spoke movingly during the evening and conducted our Pledge Appeal.

We were also delighted that Gilden’s Gallery provided the Silent Auction again including prints by Chagall, Picasso, Renoir and Henry Moore.

Edward Rising conducted the very animated live auction giving guests the chance to bid for a fabulous holiday in the Seychelles, a case of premier wine and a holiday in Marbella!

The evening raised an amazing £140,000 for CFAB which will go directly towards helping the many children and families that we work with.

CFAB is incredibly grateful to the following people:

HE The Ambassador of France and Madame Bernard Emié

Mr and Mrs Steven Blakey

Mr and Mrs Harvey McGrath

Dev Dadral at SWIIS INTERNATIONAL

Mr Mark Colbourne

Mr Edward Rising

Mr Steve Rider

Ms Rosie Gorman and all the staff at the French Residence

Mr Ofer Gildor and Gilden’s Art Gallery

To all those that donated auction prizes.

To read about past fundraising events at CFAB please go to

http://www.cfab.org.uk/fundraising/events/

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Mrs Kumari Blakey & HE The Ambassador of France Mr Mark Colbourne & Maurice Allan Mr Edward Rising

HE The Ambassador of France & HE The Ambassador of Kuwait


In focus: Assisted Voluntary ReturnIntroductionRefugee Action has been running the Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) service since April 2011 and provides advice and support for those thinking of returning to their country of origin. There are a few different streams within the service which are aimed at the following groups:

Those who have no legal status in the UK or those who have overstayed visas

Families or unaccompanied children who have been refused asylum

Adults who have been refused asylum

The service aims to give people control over their return back to their country

of origin if they will not be able to stay legally in the UK.

CFAB’s RoleCFAB has been working in partnership with Refugee Action since September 2011 to provide risk assessments for any minors who apply to the AVR scheme. The risk assessment addresses the situation of the minor in the UK, and what their situation would be like in their country of origin. A recommendation is made as to whether it is in their best interests to return.

Refugee Action asked CFAB to work with them due to the fact that we can bring social work expertise to this area of work. Additionally, where possible, we can use the ISS

Network to seek advice on the services in the country of origin and meet with the minor ’s family to establish what support they are able to provide them.

Since we started providing this service, we have provided risk assessments for twenty-two minors or families who wished to return to fifteen countries, including. Afghanistan, India, Mauritius and Brazil.

ChallengesAt CFAB, we find that there are many challenges in this work. When we receive a referral from Refugee Action, the assessment must be completed quickly. Sometimes the individuals have No Recourse to Public Funds, or are at risk of being asked to leave their accommodation. Often this will put our correspondents overseas under pressure to provide us with the required information quickly.

Additionally, sometimes we complete assessments on minors who wish to return to a country that is not part of the ISS network. We therefore must try to find other ways to get information about that country and make contact with the minor ’s family. CFAB has established new links with Afghanistan as we are often asked to conduct risk assessments for this country.

BenefitsWith the AVR service,

individuals and families will receive support and advice about the possibility of going home. If CFAB recommends that it is in the best interests for the minor to return, this will be included in their application to return. Refugee Action will pay for their return travel and organise their travel documents. Minors will also be entitled to avail themselves of financial support to return to education or training in their home country.

CFAB understands that for many people, reaching the decision to return to their home country can be very difficult. The AVR service provides individuals and families with a dignified and supported means to return to their country of origin.

If you are concerned someone needs an AVR service please call

our advice line on 020 7735 8941


Dates for your diary...14th & 15th May 2013CFAB’s 54th International Spring Fair and Food Festival at Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall supported by Diplomatic Missions in London and open to members of the public to attend.

12th June 2013CFAB’s International Child Protection Lecture at Governor’s House, Monument, London from 6.30pm-9.30pm. Guest speakers include: Tim Loughton MP and Dame Moira Gibb CBE

For details on any of the above, or to register your interest, please contact

Emma Derham on [email protected]

Unit 1.03 Canterbury Court1-3 Brixton RoadLondon SW9 6DE

Tel: 020 7735 8941Fax: 020 7582 0696

[email protected]

Restraint ReportCFAB’s CEO Andy Elvin has been serving as a Commissioner on The National Independent Commission on Enforced Removals (NICER) over the last few months. Set up by CITIZENS UK and chaired by Lord Ramsbotham, this commission began in response to the death of Jimmy Mubenga, an Ethiopian who died on a British Airways plane at Heathrow after he was restrained.

Following a year of evidence gathering and deliberation, the Commission has published its recommendations which include:

1. Escort officers to stop using pain as a tool of restraint and to develop pain-free alternatives;2. An independent panel to be

created to plan complex removal cases like Jimmy Mubenga’s;3. More robust and regular licensing of contracted escort officers;4. The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration to oversee the enforced removals contract;5. Increased monitoring of escort officers on removal flights.

Recommendation 2 has already been partially enacted by the Home Office and an independent restraint panel has also been established by the Home Office which CFAB hopes will implement recommendation 1.

CFAB are pleased to have been involved in this process. The NICER recommendations are now with the Home Affairs Select Committee and

the coroner leading the inquest into the death of Jimmy Mubenga, as well as being the subject of ongoing discussions with the Home Office.

Lord Ramsbotham, Chair of the National Independent Commission on Enforced Removals

The report published by Citizens UK is the result of a year’s review of the current enforced removals system, and, in particular, listening to affected communities, experts, NGOs and government. I hope that the Home Secretary will accept our practical rec-ommendations, designed to improve the handling of this most difficult and sensitive of issues.

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CFAB Spring Newsletter 2013

Documents

Transcript of CFAB Spring Newsletter 2013