Northern Rock Foundation

Northern Rock Foundation logoNorthern Rock Foundation has been supporting The Children's Society's work through the SCARPA project in Newcastle since 2007, helping young runaways to stay safe.

Supporting SCARPA

In 2007, the Foundation awarded SCARPA £292,693 over three years to fund direct work with young people who go missing.

This funding also supported an innovative partnership arrangement with Barnardos who provide a project worker to SCARPA to support young people involved with sexual exploitation. 

Young girl

Thanks to the Northern Rock Foundation's support, the Children's Society were able to provide individual support to vulnerable young people who run away from home and care, return interviews with identified high-risk young people reported missing to the police, and training to agencies across the region.

This grant has been critical in helping The Children's Society to establish a new service in Newcastle that works closely with the police and social care services to identify young people who repeatedly go missing.

Safer choices

In July 2010, we were delighted that Northern Rock Foundation decided to fund SCARPA for a further two years, covering the costs of two full-time project workers with a donation of £120,000. 

Thanks to the Foundation, we will continue to work with over 300 young people, aiming to reduce the number of times they run away and ensuring that they create safe relationships.

What our relationship with Northern Rock Foundation means

Richard Haigh, Programme Manager at SCARPA said: 'SCARPA is deeply grateful for Northern Rock Foundation’s support since 2007. The Foundation has enabled us to work with many more young people, help them to identify the issues that cause them to run away, and resolve these issues. The Foundation's support has been invaluable and we look forward to working in partnership for another two years.'

Cullagh Warnock, Programme Manager at Northern Rock Foundation, said: 'Northern Rock Foundation is delighted to be supporting The Children's Society for a further two years. The Foundation has been really impressed with the experience and knowledge of project staff and the impact our donation has had on reducing the numbers of young people who run away from home and care in Newcastle. We look forward to supporting more young people to stay safe and away from harm.'

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