National Child Protection Week is observed by FCP.
Friends of Child Protection will mark the beginning of National Child Protection Week on Sunday at the Presbyterian Church, Upper Orange Street, Gardens, with the annual service of hope and blessing.
The FCP will be joined by the Cape Town Youth Choir and Reverand Eras van Zyl will conduct the service, which begins at 10am. National Child Protection Week starts on Monday.
“In 2004 Friends of Child Protection came up with idea to hold a service of hope and blessing to bless and pray for th SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units (FCS Units), the Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCCs), hospitals and places of safety and to pray for the restoration of abused and exploited children and the protection of children at risk,” said Lennie Metcalf, the vice-chairperson of FCP.
National Child Protection Week was established in 1997 to raise awareness of children's rights, and FCP prepares comfort packets for victims of sexual assault and rape all year. The children's comfort packs include a soft toy, underwear or nappies, soap, a toothbrush and snack packs.
“We wear green ribbons during Child Protection Week as it symbolises life and growth and nurturing children to raise awareness for child protection to encourage people to pray for the children and for child abuse to be eradicated, to share stories and to educate, inspire and inform each other, to partner with other organisations in our communities to start or get involved in protection initiatives,” said Ms Metcalf.
“We get packs from them and I have worked with them for about 18 years and their service is essential, it really helps with the kids that have gone through these traumatic incidents. It definitely does help to calm the child as they are excited about this gift that they are getting. It’s a real blessing what they do,” said Dr Genine Josias, the medical co-ordinator at the Karl Bremmer TCC in Belville.
“The FCP delivers an outstanding service to the most vulnerable of community. They do this by consistently packing and delivering comfort packs for the children coming to our TCC. We applaud their continued service they deliver to our children and are very thankful for having them as partners,” said Dr Esmé Swanepoel, the head of clinical forensic department at Victoria hospital.
The TCC’s are all open 24 hours a day and can be reached at the following phone numbers: Karl Bremmer TCC at 0219181321, Victoria Hospital (Wynberg TCC) 0217991235, Khayelitsha TCC at 0213604570, Heideveld Hospital TCC on 0216993246, Wesfleur Hospital Atlantis can be reached at 0210100421, Paarl Hospital TCC is 0218602500, Worcester’ number is 0233481292 and George TCC is 0448024429.
“We would like to encourage everybody to get involved in whatever way they can to support all the child protection initiatives. If they would like to make a donation, they will find our QR code and bank details on our website www.friendsofchildprotection.org.za where they will also find patterns for knitted teddy bears which we never have enough of,” said Ms Metcalf.
“Even a small gesture like adding us as a beneficiary to your My School/MyVillage/My Planet https/www.myschool.co.za will help,” she said.
