St Christopher’s website is built to be accessible for all users so that you can find the information you want. Change your settings below to suit your needs.
Our mission is to create brighter futures for children and young people. We do this by providing fostering, residential and support services where children and young people can feel safe and cared for. We support them to make positive relationships which give them the confidence to succeed.
St Christopher’s recently featured on an expert panel discussion about identifying and tackling child abuse and neglect. The debate was hosted by the Guardian Social Care Network and included representatives from the NSPCC, Kingston University and local authorities.
Our approach to working with children and young people centres around the theories of social pedagogy. We are committed to reflective practice, learning alongside our young people, and using a strengths-based model to bring out the potential of every child we work with.
The discussion covered definitions of neglect, using collaboration as a preventative tool, and moving away from a “blame and shame” culture.
Tackling neglect is particularly relevant to St Christopher’s work at the moment as we are piloting new ways ways of working proactively with neglect in our services on the Isle of Man. This builds on our partnership with the Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies at Middlesex University, who have supported us to develop bespoke assessment tools for understanding a young person’s attachment style.
If you would like to know more about the Q&A session, key talking points are available on the Guardian’s website.