The 15th of May is the International Day of Families – a moment for us all to reflect on what family means to us, and how important a role our family members play in our lives.
It’s also a time for us to think about the children and families who are being denied the opportunity to exist in safe, loving family environments – and about what we can do to help them.
Which is why on this exact day one year ago, we launched our Back To Family Campaign to raise awareness of the 5.4 million children who are currently separated from their families and confined in orphanages – and the fact that 80% of these children have family they could be living with if they have the right support.
Over the past year we’ve had some big successes – from being chosen as one of the charities for The Times and Sunday Times Christmas Appeal, receiving UK Aid Match funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, and gaining support from celebrities including Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas. It’s heartening to see the growing recognition of the importance of our cause, as more and more people are now becoming aware of the inhumanity of orphanages.
But of course the real success of the Back to Family campaign is the impact it’s enabled us to have for children around the world. Children like Denys, Mykola and Vitali:
Denys, Mykola and Vitali
In Ukraine, Denys* (17), Mykola* (14) and Vitalii* (12) had grown up with parents who neglected them and two older brothers who would force them to steal – and if the boys refused or came home with nothing, their brothers would beat them.
Eventually, social services placed Denys, Mykola and Vitalii in the care of their relatives Serhii* and Iryna*. But the boys really struggled to adapt to their new way of living – they were too used to being independent to follow any rules. The boys’ past experiences meant that they simply didn’t trust adults.
We were told about the boys’ situation by a local children’s service, who asked for help as Iryna and Serhii were struggling to cope with looking after the boys. Our team made sure the family got the support they needed, working individually with each of the children and Serhii and Iryna. Together, they held family meetings, established ground rules and built the bonds of trust.
They learned how to consider the difficult situations they faced as a family unit, and find ways to solve them – and things quickly started to improve. Mykola and Vitalii started attending school and making friends. They really threw themselves into their studies, and home life for all the boys got much better.
Our team also helped the family to get the documents they needed to get more financial assistance, and we also discussed the possibility of Serhii and Iryna becoming foster parents to the boys.
Serhii and Iryna jumped at the idea of providing the boys with a stable, loving family on a more permanent basis, and after successfully undertaking their foster care training, they have now officially become Denys, Mykola and Vitalii’s foster parents.
The meaning of family
As Denys, Mykola and Vitali’s story shows, the idea of family can represent very different things. If we’re lucky, family is a source of love, security, happiness and support – whether that comes from a parent, a relative, a foster parent or someone else in our life.
To mark the International Day of Families, we’ve created a video featuring some of our team sharing just what family means to them.
At Hope and Homes for Children, if a child’s family environment isn’t safe or happy, our teams work to get them to one that is – whether that’s by providing their existing family with the support they need, or finding a new, safe family environment that can give them the love and care they deserve.
Family and you
On this International Day of Families, we’d love to hear what family means to you too.
So please do give us your thoughts via the response form below – it’s always great to get your perspective on things, and listening to what you have to say truly matters to us.
What does family mean to you?
*Names have been changed to protect identities
