About us

Established in 2007, The Separated Child Foundation offers practical, emotional and social support to separated children and young people in Britain who are asylum seekers or refugees - sometimes referred to as ‘unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASCs)’. The children we support arrive with nothing, having fled their homeland because of war, terror or persecution.

We are a small but growing charity and currently have four part-time staff members: our Chief Executive Officer, an Executive Assistant, a Programme Manager, and a Project Manager for our Arrival Packs and Sleep Packs project. The staff team is supported by eight Trustees, 50 volunteers, and a freelance youth worker who delivers our Club Class programme in Croydon (in conjunction with the Refugee Council).

Why separated children need our help

In 2021, the UK received 3,762 applications for asylum from children having arrived here alone, because their parents had been killed, imprisoned or otherwise were unable to leave (Refugee Council, 2021). Separated children share with other refugees a well-founded fear of persecution.  They experience the double trauma of separation not only from their homeland, culture and natural environment but also from the adults in their family who gave them care.