Aviva Street to School

Every year in the UK 100,000 children under 16 run away from home or care. There are only nine refuge beds available for these vulnerable children, and only a handful of projects providing direct help. This means there are thousands of children at risk every day. Most will remain hidden, off the radar of authorities or people who can help them, sofa surfing with friends of friends - or worse still, with strangers, open to abuse and exploitation.

• 1 in 9 children under 16 will runaway, of which;
• 1 in 12 is hurt or harmed
• 67% who stay with a stranger are hurt
• 80% receive no help at all
  

Street to School

Aviva is partnering with Railway Children to put this issue high on government, schools and community agendas to challenge the current outcomes for children alone and at risk on UK streets and put in place real and sustainable safeguarding measures. We will focus on:

• Getting to them before the streets do - preventative education programmes in schools and youth organisations run with Aviva volunteers.
• Funding local projects which work directly with runaways; the first project is Safe at Last.
• Lobbying government to influence policy and provide sustained, on the ground support, through organised petitioning