SAFE@LAST now sole refuge for Britain's runaway kids

And the team is calling on the Government to make sure that more facilities are made available nationally to help the 100,000 children who run away from home every year.

Until last month, SAFE@ LAST’s safeplace centre, which opened in April 2007 and has two beds, was one of only two in the country.

But because of a lack of funding, a refuge in London has been forced to close its doors, leaving South Yorkshire as the only county in England to operate a specialist shelter.

A second refuge in Scotland takes the number of beds in the UK up to five.

Now, the Dinnington-based charity is leading the way nationally when it comes to supporting young people and a recent report highlighted its work as a model of good practice.

The manager of SAFE@ LAST’s refuge, Tracy Haycox, said that despite the positive findings, much more support was needed to help young people.

“We are really pleased with the information reported in the evaluation,” she said. 

“But refuge is at a critical time in the UK with only five beds available. It is clearly not enough to provide emergency support to the 100,000 children who are reported to run away from home each year. 

“We hope the Government, councils, police forces and any other organisations concerned with young runaways can learn from this document. 

“We know that this model of refuge works and the challenge now is to increase the number of refuge beds available to a realistic number.”

SAFE@LAST works with young people in South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire and North-East Derbyshire.

The charity provides a range of services, including the emergency refuge, to provide short-term, safe accommodation to support vulnerable youngsters. 

The report into the charity’s refuge was compiled  in partnership with The Railway Children, an international organisation which helps youngsters living on the street.

The aim was to evaluate the support that SAFE@LAST provides for children and youngsters who self-refer to the refuge.

The findings will now be used to improve services and promote the development of practice with this group of young people within other organisations.

Tracy added: “The findings of this independent evaluation will be an excellent tool to support decision making on refuges for young people across the country as well as to provide SAFE@LAST with evidence for continued development.

“The evaluation ultimately reported that the Safeplace refuge is a good working model to provide much needed emergency accommodation to children and young people.”

Key findings in report were:

• The Safeplace Refuge is able to provide a safe place for young runaways.
• Problems with parents and carers were the most common reason for a child or young person to be unable to remain in the home.
• The refuge service is valued by children and young people,  parents and carers, external professionals and SAFE@LAST.
• The self-referral by children and young people is the strength of the refuge.
• Effective joint working often played at part in achieving positive outcomes for children and young people.
• SAFE@LAST is an innovative model that works well

Young People who  need help should contact SAFE@ LAST on its  24-hour helpline by calling 0800 335 SAFE, texting SAFE + their message to 60777 or via web chat available through www.safeatlast.co.uk.

For more information visit www.safeatlast.org.uk.