Yorkshire charity wins national award for supporting families affected by child exploitation

Ivison Trust provides parents living in the North West of England whose children have been exploited with a specialist parent support worker, who helps them to keep their child safe, provides emotional support and supports them to work with the police and family services to disrupt the exploitation.

As overall award winners, Ivison Trust received an unrestricted grant of £50,000.

The judges said:

“Through its evidence-based and forward-looking approach, Ivison Trust works tirelessly to support parents’ health and wellbeing at a horrific time in their lives. The charity understand that children are victims and that it is their vulnerability as children that exploiters use to coerce them.

It puts the affected parents, many of whom experience feelings of stigma, shame and helplessness, at the heart of its work. Ivison Trust also collaborates with local partners to safeguard exploited children by sharing intelligence with relevant authorities, supporting investigations undertaken by police, and training thousands of health and social care professionals. For a small charity with very few staff, it has impressively managed to expand its work nationwide to support hundreds of families’ health and wellbeing each year.”

Lindsay Dalton, CEO said:

“We are astounded and incredibly proud to be chosen as the overall winner from a group of outstanding charities working hard in the health and care sector. Our staff and volunteers work tirelessly to improve the lives of families affected by child exploitation and this award win would not have been possible without them. This extra boost brings us closer to our aim of developing research and evidence to improve responses for children who have faced exploitation and their families.”

To find out more about Ivison Trust, or find support for your family, go to www.ivisontrust.org.uk