News

Emily Aklan on how her background in construction and property has shaped Serenity Welfare's approach to creating children's homes, using Cardiff House as an example. Before I worked in children's social care, my career was in construction and property, including designing and creating show homes. A big part of that work was thinking about how a space felt when someone walked through the door, from the layout and lighting to the furniture and finishing touches. That experience has stayed with ...

We are incredibly proud to share that our CEO, Emily Aklan, has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Stars of Children & Young People Awards 🌟 Emily has been recognised in the Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Services Award, reflecting her unwavering commitment to supporting, empowering and inspiring young people. This recognition reflects the impact of the work being delivered every day—supporting young people to feel heard, valued and equipped to move forward with confiden...

We’re delighted to share that Serenity Welfare has been recognised by The Sunday Times as one of the Best Places to Work 2025 in the Health & Social Care - Small Business category! This award celebrates organisations across the UK that put their people first, creating workplaces where staff feel valued, supported and motivated to make a real difference. At Serenity Welfare, we’re passionate about providing children and young people with the highest quality care and support, and that st...

For most of us, our home is where we feel comfortable and where we rest our heads after a long day. But for vulnerable children in care it is so much more than that: it can be a refuge and a safe space where they can feel protected. Recent investigations have shown that thousands of homeless teenagers have been advised against turning to care homes for accommodation and told to seek cheaper hostels instead. Reports suggest that social workers have advised vulnerable children in this way, despite hostels lacking the necessary care and support stipulated under section 20 of the Children Act 1989. These hostels, populated primarily by adults, may offer some financial relief for councils, but...

Children’s charity leaders have raised concerns over reports that children treated as homeless by local authorities rather than as in need of care are not being offered adequate information about their entitlements. A Freedom of Information request by the BBC sent to all London councils revealed figures for the number of councils who accommodated 16-and 17-year-olds under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 were low or incomplete. Homeless children getting in touch with their local authority were reported to be "misled and unsure" when making decisions regarding their accommodation and wellbeing, with some being placed under Section 17 of the act which means they are not classed as looke...

Many children associate the summer holidays with family getaways, fun activities, and time with their friends. However, for children in care, of which 80 per cent suffer a diagnosable mental health disorder, this is frequently not the reality. The lack of routine and school-run activities can curate a stressful and unpredictable environment which can exacerbate these mental health concerns and require extra support. But unfortunately, the very nature of summer school holidays means that the required support is not usually available to vulnerable children in care during the height of summer. Regular routine helps to create a sense of stability which is essential for healthy physical and emo...

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 episodes in handcuffs and sometim...

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...

The business women leading the way in their industries have been named in the second annual Great British Businesswoman Awards. The programme launched in 2021 to recognise the growing number of trailblazing women in business leadership and entrepreneurship, champion their peers and advocates, and inspire the next generation of businesswomen. In 2021, over 140,000 female-founded companies were established, a figure that is growing by a third every year, and the number of women in leadership pos...

This Christmas, over 1,300 children in Manchester were living in the city's care system - a seven per cent increase on last year. More children in care means that the system is coming under more pressure, local politicians have warned. MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, Mike Kane, is calling for more government support to help the sector. The labour politician has shared his opinion with the M.E.N on what needs to be done to ensure vulnerable children in Manchester are given the safe home they need. READ MORE:The Manchester sanctuary that's keeping young women safe this Christmas The festive season is a time for families to spend quality time together and should be a time of joy for chi...

More than half of looked-after children born in 1994 had a criminal conviction by the time they were 24, official figures have shown. The data, published by the Office for National Statistics, shows that 52 per cent of care-experienced young people were handed a criminal conviction by age 24, compared with 13 per cent of their non care experienced peers of the same age. One in seven care experienced children, whose data was examined for the research, received an immediate custodial sentence by the time they were 24, compared with one per cent of young people with no experience of care of the same age. Special report: Social, emotional and mental health needs Social workers on the...

...

Follow the link to see the full schedule. Read More...

WALES ISSUES GUIDANCE TO REDUCE HANDCUFFING OF CHILDREN IN CARE Read More WALES BECOMES FIRST UK NATION TO BAN CHILDREN IN CARE BEING HANDCUFFED OR RESTRAINED Read More Liberal England Read More Herald Wales Read More Nation Cymru Read More...

...

This week Marsha de Cordova, MP for Battersea, asked in a written question to the Secretary of State for Education, "what steps he is taking to end the handcuffing and restraint of children in the care system by private secure transportation providers". This follows a successful drop-in session hosted last week in the House of Commons by Serenity Welfare in the name of the Hope Instead of Handcuffs campaign which was attended by 22 MPs....

Mental health is one of the most significant health policy challenges facing decision makers today, yet the solutions – and the funding – are too often found to be wanting. Real action is needed on key issues such as the prevalence of self-harm amongst young people, yet our understanding of this issue is nowhere near what it needs to be. For example, there is no way of knowing if a child who has been admitted to hospital for self-harming is one of the 80,850 – and growing – children ...

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. The reality couldn’t be more different. Young people in or on the edge of the care system have often faced multipledisadvantages and trauma which most of us could never imagine. In addition, they often do not have the security of a family support network in the same way as other children. But, however untrue they might be, negative attitudes such as these seep through into how the care syst...

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. The reality couldn’t be more diff...

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. The reality couldn’t be more diff...

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. The reality couldn’t be more different. Young people in or on the edge of the care system have often faced multiple disadvantages and trauma which most of us could never imagine. In addition, t...

The awful practice of handcuffing children during transport must end | Sarah Champion The awful practice of handcuffing children during transport must end | Sarah Champion Local authorities often use private service providers to transport children in their care, but unlike schools or care homes, transport providers are not required to report when they restrain or use handcuffs on a child That’s why I'm supporting the “Hope instead of Handcuffs” campaign, which is calling for instances of restraint against looked-after children in private transport to be reported to the proper authorities, as well as an end to the handcuffing, restraining or caging of children, except when there is c...

The care-to-prison pipeline shows our failure of looked-after children This problem is rooted in both a lack of protection and a dangerously out-of-date attitude perpetuated from the top down In the past week, we have heard sombre stories about the state of children’s social care in the UK. The Department for Education revealed that the number of looked-after children has hit its highest number yet – up 1 per cent from 2020 to 80,850 – and the County Councils Network has predicted that this number will hit 100,000 by 2025. We must urgently address the national epidemic of inequality which has been growing silently in the dark. Read full article...

...

In the first episode of the BBC’s new crime drama, The Outlaws, local gang leader Malaki offers teenage Esme £50. “Buy yourself something nice,” he says. It’s a supposedly innocuous interaction, but hints at the darker lengths criminal gangs will go to exploit vulnerable children. Like Esme’s character in The Outlaws, one thing which can put children at risk of being groomed into gangs is lacking stable family or support structures, especially children in or on the edge of the care system. It’s important though to recognise that any child is at risk of being targeted, even those from supposedly happy families. Older gang members will offer children money and gifts, a lifestyle ...

On World Children’s Day, the Labour MPs Sarah Championand John McDonnell write to support the Hope instead of Handcuffs campaign Saturday 20 November marks World Children’s Day, the anniversary of the UN general assembly’s adoption of the convention of the rights of the child (UNCRC). But despite the UK ratifying the UNCRC in 1991, many children in care are being treated in a way that violates this convention. According to the UN committee on the rights of the child, restraint against children should only be used if the child poses an imminent danger to themselves or others, under the direct supervision of a medical professional, and only after all other measures have been exhausted....

Children in care are being handcuffed on their way to school and foster homes Children in care can be handcuffed under the law as a last resort. Image: Pixabay MPs are backing a campaign to make private companies accountable for handcuffing children in care while transporting them. MPs want to ban vulnerable children as young as 10 from being handcuffed and “treated like animals” while being taken to and from school and foster homes. Private companies transporting children between ca...

Childrens Crisis Intervention Key Worker At Serenity Welfare we look after children in Crisis when no one else can. This is more that a support worker role, you will need to have a nurturing approach and be passionate, resilient, and committed to promoting the physical, emotional, and intellectual wellbeing of the children we work with. They can have complex needs and trauma related behaviours from being exploited in areas such as Drugs, Gangs, Violence, Sexual and Criminal Exploitation. They may also have Mental Health and Learning disabilities. If you have the skills to mentor and support a child or young person to bring about change in their lives, assisting them to achieve their full ...

Best Businesswomen Awards 2021 The Best Businesswomen Awards have announced their winners for 2021 at a Gala Final held at the Hilton Wembley. Our CEO Emily Aklan has won the Best Businesswomen Gold Award for Children and Families category in this prestigious competition which seeks to find the very best female business talent from across the UK and Internationally. Despite a global pandemic, the sheer resilience of female entrepreneurs shone through. All winners, selected by a panel ...

Jayden was just eight years old when he ran his first errand for his Uncle Alex. “He asked me to run a package three bus stops down,” Jayden says. “It’s like at school when you get picked to take the register back to the office. You feel pleased you’ve been chosen. They say, ‘well done’ – it makes you feel good.” p:nth-of-type(2)","sizes":[[8,8]],"hideOnSensitiveArticle":true,"relativePos":"after","additionalClass":"in-article","name":"div-gpt-ad-vip-slot","type":"VIP","bidde...

Event organised by the Hope instead of Handcuffs campaign to discuss the alarming use of restraint against innocent children in the UK's care sector. Watch Now...

Dozens of MPs have joined forces to call on the government to ban the use of handcuffs on children in care. MPs have called for an end to handcuffing children in care. Picture: Adobe Stock Ministers are backing the Hope Instead of Handcuffs campaign, launched by Emily Aklan, chief executive of children’s social care provider Serenity Welfare, which is calling for legislation allowing a child in care to be handcuffed during secure transportation to be scrapped.... View Full Article...

As media and political support continues to grow for Serenity Welfare’s Hope Instead of Handcuffs campaign, leading supporter Steve McCabe MP will host an online roundtable event on 20th July to discuss how to tackle the use of restraint against children in care and how to support better vulnerable young people..... View Full Article...

...

SAFECONF Our annual safeguarding conference took place on 6 March. You can watch the videos and presentations from the day as well as previous events below which provide excellent CPD. View Full Article...

CALL FOR MORE YOUTH WORKERS TO TACKLE EMERGING GANGS THREAT Fiona SimpsonTuesday, April 27, 2021 The pandemic has changed the methods criminal gangs use to exploit children. Experts say the shift is exposing young people from rural and affluent areas to greater risks, who will need the support of 10,000 more youth workers. Gangs use social media to groom and recruit children in their criminal operations. Picture: Brian/Adobe Stock Gangs exploiting vulnerable children to carry out crimina...

Children in the care system are some of the most at risk in our society. As the scandals of recent years have shown, when issues arise in this system the voices of looked after children are often lost or silenced. One problem that is clear time and again is that children from troubled backgrounds are often treated as a problem to be solved rather than a person to be nurtured. A recent report ‘Lives transformed, potential fulfilled’ detailed the impact that this has: children who have been in...

EARLY INTERVENTION INVESTMENT COULD SAVE COUNCILS £7BN, RESEARCHERS SAY Joe Lepper Thursday, April 15, 2021 Councils in England with above-average rates of looked-after children could save a total of £7bn over the next decade by focusing on early intervention policies that target vulnerable families, according to researchers. Early intervention services could prevent poor mental health outcomes for looked-after children, research shows. Picture: Adobe Stock The resear...

Sky News Interview...

Emily Aklan is Founder & CEO of Serenity Welfare, a children’s welfare provider offering a range of services from secure transport to crisis intervention. With the effects of the pandemic undoubtedly impacting on the wellbeing of children, there has never been a time when promoting good mental health of children in care has been so important. Care Talk caught up with Emily to find out how a child-centred approach can be practically and successfully applied to children suffering from mental health problems. The pandemic has had a hard impact on cared-for children’s mental health, as it has on all children, what can the industry be doing right now to help children in a mental health c...

Emily has enjoyed a successful real estate career, and was only 31 when she started running her company. But her life took a different direction when her sister passed away and her ex-husband took their children and left the country. After a long legal battle, she managed to earn custody of her sister’s children. There began a new horizon for her, linking even more with support for children in need. In a way, she has revolutionised the child care system. In this interview, she reveals that she transports children in comfortable “Mercedes” and not in caged vehicles, or children with handcuffs. In her goals for 2021, she says that will improve her company’s service to be an added aid t...

During Children's Mental Health Week, Emily Aklan says the unnecessary an unregulated physical restraining of children is a shocking practice that must be addressed... Professional Social Work magazine, 4 February, 2021 Many of us have struggled over the last year, but for most, these struggles will ease once life returns to some sense of normality. Sadly, for many vulnerable children and young people in care, the results of the challenges they are facing will continue to have a profound i...

While all of us have felt the impact of Covid -19, for children in care it has compounded the circumstances which make them most vulnerable. Like the rest of the country, looked-after children have faced increased isolation and disorder as a result of isolating restrictions. The mental toll of lockdowns cannot be understated, with many reports showing increasing rates of poor mental health. For children in care however, this loss is especially acute. Having often already faced a significant amount of trauma and disruption in their lives, looked-after young people have a heavier reliance on the structures and routine of school and extracurricular activities. They also gain more from alter...

Discussions for Children’s Mental Health week have never been more important than this year. As we enter 2021, we leave behind us a truly unpredictable year, only with months of uncertainty ahead – it’s no wonder the conversation around young people’s mental health is a top priority. The mental health of this generation’s children has never been more critical, or more precarious. But what about children in the care system? Often overlooked in the wider discussion on young people’s m...

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...

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 o...

We had a amazing day of events centred around Games of Thrones . Our passionate team enjoying a well deserved break having lots of fun !!...

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 aske...

Please download the update here....

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Serenity Welfare's best practice article The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Serenity Welfare is an attempt to do just that....