Leeds-based charity supporting parents of exploited children wins top UK health award

Each year, thousands of UK children are exploited by groomers, gangs, county lines groups and others. Ivison Trust is the only charity in the country with a primary focus on supporting parents affected by child sexual and criminal exploitation.

Following a rigorous selection and assessment process, Ivison Trustwas chosen from more than 500 charities across the UK as one of the ten winners of the 2024 GSK IMPACT Awards, which are delivered in partnership with leading health and care charity The King’s Fund. Now in its 27th year, the awards are a mark of excellence in the charity sector, designed to recognise the outstanding work of small and medium-sized charities working to improve people’s health and wellbeing in the UK. 

As an award winner, Ivison Trust, established in 1996 and formerly known as Parents Against Child Exploitation, will now receive £40,000 in unrestricted funding as well as expert support and leadership development provided by The King’s Fund.

According to the NSPCC, there were over 17,000 logged cases of child sexual exploitation in England and Wales in 2021/22, and online grooming has risen by 82 per cent in the past four years. Ivison Trust finds that children as young as seven are being targeted by groomers. Exploiters are indiscriminate and are targeting children across the country from all backgrounds.

As well as the impact on the direct victims, child exploitation has a knock-on effect on the wider family. Research from the University of Worcester in 2016 showed that 88 per cent of affected parents said the exploitation of their children had impacted their health and wellbeing, with almost 40% of parents contemplating suicide as a direct result of the abuse, and 72 per cent of parents requiring prescribed medication to help cope.

The award win comes when the triple threat of rising costs, falling income and increased demand continues to put small charities and their finances under extreme pressure and at a time when organisations such as Ivison Trust are needed more than ever. The award judges were impressed by the targeted work of Ivison Trust to help parents through one-to-one intensive support, counselling, peer-led support groups and a crisis response line. The charity also trains professionals on how to respond to child sexual and criminal exploitation and modern slavery, and campaigns to improve safeguarding practices to better protect children.

The award judges also commended the charity’s work with the government’s National County Lines Co-ordination Centre to deliver pilot awareness-raising webinars to parents whose children might be at risk of exploitation but are not yet in touch with services. Ivison Trust commissioned specialist partners to work with young people identified through the process, and the government subsequently funded these webinars to every county in England.

Ivison Trust also has eleven Parent Liaison Officers working within local authority Multi-Agency Safeguarding Teams. These officers, commissioned by local authorities, the NHS, and Police and Crime Commissioners, work to the charity’s Relational Safeguarding Model. This supports parents as key partners, centring them in the safeguarding processes around the child to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the entire family.

These officers also provide non-judgmental therapeutic and practical support to families. This involves support to manage trauma, build resilience, navigate complex legal systems, if necessary, and help parents access appropriate health services. In 2022/23, over three-hundred and fifty families were supported face-to-face by this service, and a further one-hundred and seventy-nine families were supported through a separate telephone support service.

The charity also provides training to better safeguard children. This included delivering training to almost 3,000 health and care professionals in 2022/23, while a further 12,600 people undertook Ivison Trust’s free online course on understanding child sexual exploitation and 9,700 people undertook a course on understanding child criminal exploitation.

The award judges also praised the charity’s proactive work to reach parents with different needs, including translating its materials into a range of languages, and encouraging parents who struggle with writing to contact them directly without the need for writing forms.

Katie Pinnock, Director, UK Charitable Partnerships at GSK, 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 understands 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.”

Commenting on the award, Lindsay Dalton, CEO of Ivison Trust, said: “We are delighted to have won the award and so proud that the hard work of our staff, volunteers and affected parents who campaign alongside us has been recognised. Receiving this prestigious award gives us the opportunity to shine a light on child exploitation and the complex issues and long-term impact families face when their child is sexually or criminally exploited. The funding and development programme that is central to the award will support our ongoing strategic aim of developing research and evidence to improve responses for children and families affected by child exploitation.”  

Developing leaders in the charity sector is a key aim of the GSK IMPACT Awards programme and all winners are invited to build on their success and take part in a tailored leadership development programme run by The King’s Fund.