emily aklan is the founder and chief executive of Serenity Welfare, an organisation that offers comprehensive welfare services for children and young people.

Career Overview emily aklan is the founder and chief executive of Serenity Welfare, a uniquely integrated organisation that works with UK-wide local authorities, children’s charities, schools, alternative education provisions, youth Offending Services and other healthcare professionals, offering a fully comprehensive welfare service for children and young people - including those in care - 24-hours-a-day, seven days per week. emily founded Serenity Welfare in 2016 after being horrified to discover that children in care - some as young as 10-years-old - were being transported from care home to care home or picked up from police stations after absconding epi...

“A leader has to lead from the front”: Serenity Welfare’s emily aklan discusses the leadership philosophy behind her success and her post-Covid ambitions

emily aklan is the founder and chief executive of Serenity Welfare, a uniquely integrated organisation that works with UK-wide local authorities, children’s charities, schools, alternative education provisions, youth offending services and other healthcare professionals to offer a fully comprehensive 24/7 welfare service for children and young people, including those in care. Serenity was born out of emily’s personal horror at the revelation that children in care, some as young as the age of ten, are often transported from care home to care home or picked up from police stations following acts of absconding in handcuffs, sometimes with their feet tied tog...

Tackling exploitation with mentoring: Serenity Welfare’s emily aklan to speak at The Children in Care Conference 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has proven a significant test to the resilience of children’s social care services in the UK. An already overburdened industry has had to take on the challenge of assisting children and young people in care who are facing long periods of heightened stress and isolation, meaning that the right support is more critical than ever before. Throughout the crisis, the government has recognised that working together with care sector bodies and ensuring an individualised approach are vital to ensuring that children in care can maximise their potential. The Children in Care Conference 2021, which will take place on February 11, is the latest edi...

emily aklan from Serenity Welfare appears in Leaders Council podcast alongside Lord Blunkett

emily aklan from Serenity Welfare appears in Leaders Council podcast alongside Lord Blunkett. The Leaders Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is currently in the process of talking to leadership figures from across the nation in an attempt to understand this universal trait and what it means in Britain and Northern Ireland today. emily aklan from Serenity Welfare was invited onto an episode of the podcast, which also included an interview with Lord Blunkett. Host Matthew O'Neill asked both guests a series of questions about leadership and the role it has played in their careers to date. Matthew O'Neill commented, ‘Hosting a show like this, where y...

Hertfordshire children’s rights campaign named Social Enterprise Businesswoman of the Year 2022

  Hertfordshire based emily aklan has been recognised as one of this year’s most exceptional women in business at the second annual Great British Businesswoman Awards. emily, CEOat Serenity Welfare was honoured as Social Enterprise Businesswoman of the Year.   emily is one of the UK’s leading children’s rights campaigners. After discovering the appalling way children in care were treated when her nieces narrowly escaped the care system six years ago, emily devoted herself to helping the UK’s vulnerable children.   As part of her work, emily founded Serenity Welfare in 2016 after being horrified to discover that children in care – some as you...

Children's rights campaigner aklan calls for change of narrative around looked after children

Writing for CareTalk, emily aklan, founder of Serenity Welfare and the children’s rights campaigner behind the Hope Instead of Handcuffs initiative, calls for a change of attitude around vulnerable young people and urges government to help dispel the myth that such youngsters are responsible for their own troubles and invest in the services they require. In my many years of working with vulnerable young people, one thing which never fails to shock me is the negative attitudes targeted towards children in care. The archaic view of looked after children as “little thugs”, responsible for their problems, is more widespread than we might like to admit....