The London Refuge for Runaway Children, which offers accommodation to children who run away from home and it is a 6-bed safe house in a secret location, may be closed as government is yet to agree a funding package for the forthcoming year.
In 2006, nineteen children from Hackney were helped via the Refuge, run by the NSPCC and St Christopher’s Fellowship has running cost per year of around £700,000 with the Department for Education and Skills, providing about £250,000 out of it.
NSPCC area manager, Nasima Patel said:
“The government funding runs out this month and as it is the biggest funder, we would find ourselves in difficulty. If we couldn’t replace the government money, then the future of the refuge would be at stake.”
DfES’ spokeswoman said:
“We are in contact with St Christopher’s to discuss options for the centre once the current funding arrangements have finished.”
The shelter is found out by children through the charity, Childline, or through word of mouth.
[tags] runaway, children, dfes, nspcc [/tags]
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