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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","bid...

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...

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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 c...

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 wh...

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 Th...

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 ...

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...

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....

Dear Colleagues, We want to write to you directly to keep you informed of the steps we are taking to ensure our Serenity Team are prepared for all scenarios relating to the Coronavirus as our number one priority is for the safety of the children and young people we work with Keeping all our children and young people safe is our primary focus and we are therefore prioritising additional actions including increasing cleaning across our office, the locations in which we work and in our tr...

The Safeguarding Conference 2020 . We are delighted to announce  Peter Wilson as a guest speaker  presenting the Gangs & County lines talks to over 300 Head teachers and safeguarding officers for schools across London and the home counties , well done Peter and the rest of the Serenity Welfare team. View the gallery here  ...

A great day for our Mentoring team at the Careers fair, St. Ignatius College, Enfield.  Great to meet so many bright and enthusiastic students. ...

As serenity Welfare began working closely with AP Academy Octagon our CEO Emily Aklan realised the young people attending the Academy could benifit from more computers.  In true Emily style, within 2 days here she is donating new laptops on behalf of Serenity welfare.  We are looking forward to a fantastic future working alongside AP Academy Octagon.    ...

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Emily Alkan talks to Care Appointments about how a sense of self worth is more powerful than handcuffing children & young people. Read the full article...

One year on from the Grenfell tower fire – remembering those who lost their lives....