Welcome to the first quarterly
e-newsletter from The Children's Voice.
The Children's Voice campaign is run by the Children's High Level Group, which was co-founded in 2005 by author JK Rowling and MEP Emma Nicholson.
We campaign for child rights across Europe, where over a million children and teenagers are growing up in institutions, often in unacceptable conditions. One of our central aims is to move children out of institutions and into loving families, by building systems to ensure parents can care for their own children and by improving national fostering and adoption programmes for children who are separated.
Visit www.thechildrensvoice.com to find out more.
Did you know? Facts and figures about children growing up in institutions |
Why does The Children's Voice think institutions are not the best way to look after children? Where else can all these orphans live? Firstly, most of the children in institutions in Europe are not orphans. More than 96% have known families. Although institutions are set up to look after children, unfortunately research and experience show that they can seriously delay or damage a child's development. |
Community Action takes over Europe! |
Community Action is a unique CHLG initiative. It brings together young people from all sections of the community, encouraging them to help each other and understand each other's lives. In Romania - where Community Action is part of the high school curriculum - there are 48,000 school children who work face-to-face with 42,000 children with special needs. This is the largest group of young people working this way in Europe! |
Starting work in the Czech Republic |
In 2004 JK Rowling read about a very young boy with learning disabilities who was kept in a cage bed in a psychiatric facility just outside Prague. Enclosed for most of his day without human contact, his story was so disturbing that it inspired her to set up the Children's High Level Group (CHLG). CHLG has since been working in Romania and Moldova, helping to improve the lives of thousands of children and strengthen families, and now, almost three years later, CHLG is starting work in Czech Republic. |
How can you help? |
The Children's Voice Campaign is funded entirely by public donation. By helping us to raise money you are making a huge difference. You are also helping to change the lives of vulnerable children both now and in the future. You can make a single or monthly donation by visiting our donation page on Just Giving www.justgiving.com/chlg/donate Or why not do something within your community, school or workplace to raise money? You can download our Ideas Sheet here www.chlg.org/cv/downloads.asp |
