Children North East joins national call to put children at the heart of Covid-19 recovery plans

Children North East has joined more than 150 charities, teachers and frontline services to issue a joint statement calling on the Government to prioritise this generation of children alongside health and the economy in their Coronavirus recovery plans.

The statement, ahead of this week’s Prime Minister’s speech and the Chancellor’s mini budget in July, underlines that today’s children and young people are facing unprecedented threats to their childhoods and futures. As well as the disruption to their schooling, living standards and family lives caused by the crisis, they have been growing up at a time where services protecting children are at breaking point, school budgets are under pressure and job losses are soaring.

With family budgets under enormous pressure, organisations including Action for Children, Barnardo’s, National Children’s Bureau, NSPCC, The Children’s Society, Children North East and many others, have joined forces to urge the Government to prioritise and protect vulnerable children and young people.

As well as giving financial support to shore up family finances, the Prime Minister is being called upon to protect the most vulnerable children and young people, including those with disabilities, mental health difficulties, children who have suffered abuse and those from minority communities.

Those working with children will be essential in getting the country back on its feet and investment in this must play a central part in the Chancellor’s plans, including funding for local authority children’s services that step in early to help children before families reach breaking point as well as mental health and wellbeing support for children returning to school.

The statement and the full list of 152 organisations supporting is available here: www.ncb.org.uk/childrenattheheartofrecovery.