UK Training Industry Press Releases

A safer future is in prospect for children and young people in the Turks & Caicos islands following an offer by the UK-based Safeguarding Children e-Academy to provide free online child protection training worth up to £3,000.

The academy, part of online training pioneer Virtual College in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, is providing free access to its Awareness of Child Abuse & Neglect e-learning course for up to 360 people working with children on the islands.

It follows a plea from the islands' only paediatrician, Dr Helen Leonard, who until February this year was a paediatric consultant at the University Hospital of North Durham.

Dr Leonard is now working in the Turks & Caicos islands, a British overseas Territory some 80 miles north of Haiti, with a population of 25,000.

She said: "It all sounds very glamorous, but in reality is a developing world. With the downturn in the worldwide economy, coupled with the unstable political situation here, many people have lost their jobs and there is real poverty.

"I am the only paediatrician here - there is no money for another one. Child protection training is a huge issue, though the  good news is that progress is being made and plans are in place to implement guidelines produced by Unicef, so people will have something to work with."

Dr Leonard is looking to establish an exchange scheme between the UK and the islands' social services and police. Already, paediatrician Dr Jan Welbury, a child protection specialist from Newcastle, has visited for two weeks (September) to help with multi-agency training.

Dr Leonard added: "There is a recognition and desire for things to change - the people I am working with are enthusiastic, warm and committed to change. This additional support from the Safeguarding Children e-Academy is fantastic. Working here can be incredibly hard, so things like this give me a massive boost - and the will to keep going."

Academy's Mercy mission

Cutting-edge computer technology is now at the fingertips of children in an African orphanage - quite literally - thanks to the contuning generoristy of the Safeguarding Children e-Academy

It has donated a new mini-Netbook worth £275 to the Great Mercy Orphanage in Kitale, Kenya, which provides a refuge for 91 children, many of whom have suffered horrific experiences and do not have anyone else to care for them.

The handover supplements an earlier £2,000 donation by the Safeguarding Children e-Academy to the orphanage.

Since 2007, the e-Academy has donated over £60,000 to a host of charities, the majority based in the UK and nominated by its growing 71-strong membership, predominantly Local Safeguarding Children Boards.

The Safeguarding Children e-Academy remains one of the UK's leading providers of child protection training courses, which are delivered via the internet through its www.safeguardingchildrenea.co.uk site.

Manager Abby Dacres said: "We are proud to see that our continuing charitable efforts are making a real difference to children, young people and their families both at home and abroad."

Working wonders - Dr Helen Leonard, the only qualified paediatrician on the Turks & Caicos islands.