Last year alone, over 60,000 unaccompanied asylum seeking children were registered within the EU.
Sadly, tens of thousands of children who’ve fled violence and conflict – many of whom have family here in the UK – are still searching for safety, security and stability.
For children already here in the UK, a distinct lack of Muslim foster carers means that Muslim children are usually placed within families outside of their cultural and religious community.
Living in an unfamiliar environment with a lack of cross-cultural and interreligious knowledge can have a profoundly negative impact on the wellbeing and future prospects of these children.
Recognising the impact these issues have on these children’s lives, we’ve been working to tackle such challenges.
Alhamdulillah, your phenomenal fundraising efforts last year during Charity Week funded the Muslim Foster Network in partnership with Mercy Mission, to address these issues.
Family reunification
The money that you donated helped us to connect unaccompanied child refugees in Greece and France to relatives settled in the UK as part of an ongoing resettlement programme.
Community outreach
You support funded a crucial UK-based networking and educational outreach programme.
We raised much-needed awareness amongst local communities (specifically Muslim) and national bodies about the importance of fostering. Most importantly, our work also highlighted the specific vulnerabilities of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
Aimed at increasing the number of families who foster children, our partners were delighted to receive new foster carer registrations and referrals.
Islamic education and support
You enabled us to support non-Muslim families fostering Muslim children here in the UK by providing non-Muslim foster carers with crucial information, resources and support.
We developed a dedicated fostering guide and points of contact within UK-based Muslim organisations which will empower non-Muslim families to nurture and care for these children in line with their Islamic beliefs.
As a result, these children’s emotional wellbeing and future prospects will improve greatly.
So, on behalf of all of the children you’ve helped, thank you for your incredible support! Your donations have helped us to transform the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable children.