Embrace Child Victims of Crime has provided more services to more children and families over the past year than it has in its 30 years as an organisation. This is following the expansion of its remote counselling services. 

The children’s charity has its headquarters in Peterborough, and supported 3,738 children in the past year to overcome the trauma caused by crime, which is over 1,000 more than the previous year. 

Embrace increased the number of services it offers by 50% over the last year, expanding to provide telephone and online support, and practical packages to alleviate hardship caused by crime. The charity also facilitated days out at theme parks in partnership with Merlin’s Magic Wand for families as part of its unique recovery services, which are tailored to meet each child’s individual needs. 

Embrace takes referrals for its services from police, teachers, and other safeguarding professionals, but also encourages families to refer themselves via the charity’s website. The charity also runs an Instagram account, @chat2embrace,  to allow young people to refer themselves easily for the charity’s services. 

The emotional support services have been designed to be delivered over the telephone or video calls to reach children harmed by crime across the country. Specially-trained volunteers deliver the support alongside Embrace’s emotional support therapeutic team to enable the charity to reach more children than ever before.

Simon Bailey, Chair of Trustees for Embrace commented:

”Embrace’s work with families is life-changing. The charity continues to develop the kind of services that make a real difference to children and families across the country, helping them to deal with what’s happened and giving them the confidence and strategies to move forwards with their lives. 

“Just as importantly, our services give young people the skills and the knowledge to help prevent future victimisation, minimising the potential for further harm. Over the next 12 months our focus will be on reaching a much wider audience so we can help more children heal from the harm caused by crime and reach their full potential.”