Meet the Glasgow charity working to prevent child abuse in Govan

Govan Together For Childhood, a project led by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), has been working alongside the community to help prevent child abuse and support families.

The charity project is part of a long-term plan that uses a blend of social work, therapeutic services, and community development services to work alongside the community to prevent abuse and neglect.

Staff at Together for Childhood in Govan noticed that the children they were working with were getting hung up on the cost-of-living crisis and worrying about what it would mean for their families.

After speaking to the children, the team came up with the idea to create ‘Wee Govanites Cozy Kits’.

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Sharon Mather, strategic service manager for the NSPCC, said: “What we thought this year was we would merge the cost-of-living-crisis, the fuel crisis, and the emotional resilience into one, and that’s where the wee cosy kit came from.”

The team received funding from the National Lottery and donations from a variety of groups, individuals, local organisations and churches from a wider network, allowing them to distribute 350 kits through local schools.

They put together “cosy kits’ with “fluffy socks, fluffy pyjamas, fluffy blankets”, a book, and a sachet of hot chocolate.

Sharon said: “They got all of that with a letter from us to say, as a child you can contact Childline, but as somebody who now has some resilience and mindfulness techniques, you can take yourself away from a situation.

“You can take yourself away from a situation, read your book, have your hot chocolate, wrap yourself up in your fluffy pyjamas and blanket, and just take some time away from what might be overwhelming you.”

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After the success of the first round of ‘cosy kits’, the charity followed up the first kits with a “top-up” kit containing a colouring book and pencils, a game they could play with a friend, a hat, gloves, and more hot chocolate.

Sharon said: “That’s the start of us working with children to encourage them to talk to adults, talk to others about how they’re feeling.

“And then when we know we’ve got that trusted relationship in the community, children are more likely to speak up when something horrible is happening, or someone is harming them.

Govan Together For Childhood plans to take the kits into next year and continue their small fundraising efforts to put them together.

Sharon said: “One of the things we have tried to think about is what would be helpful here and now.

“Our long-term goal over 10 years is to show evidence that we’ve prevented abuse and neglect.

“And we do that by sharing information with people, working alongside people, and giving people the skills and knowledge to figure it out.”