Member's statement: Action for Children: 25 Years in Northern Ireland

Member's statement by Ms Sian Mulholland on 23 June 2025.

MLA

Ms Sian Mulholland

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

23 June 2025

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

Action for Children: 25 Years in Northern Ireland

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5045685

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I mark a significant milestone for a charity that has had a profound impact on the lives of children and families right across Northern Ireland, as Action for Children celebrates 25 years of delivering vital services here. That is a quarter of a century of dedication, care and advocacy being provided to some of our most vulnerable children and young people. Action for Children was founded in London in 1869 and has grown to be one of the largest voluntary providers of children's services in the UK. In Northern Ireland since 2000, it has provided practical and emotional support to over 15,000 young people and their families every single year through more than 20 services spread across our communities. Action for Children's vision is powerful and simple, and it is that every child and young person will have a safe and happy childhood, as well as be given the foundations needed in order to thrive. That vision drives its work. It steps in early and offers support before families and young people reach crisis point. We know how important early intervention is, and Action for Children has been at the forefront of that mission for the past 25 years. Its services are diverse and far-reaching, being delivered through family support hubs, Sure Start centres, early intervention services and young carers programmes. It supports families by offering an extra little bit of help, and it does so with compassion. It provides specialist services for young people who are at risk of experiencing homelessness, including through providing floating support in Omagh and in County Fermanagh and supported accommodation that helps young adults aged 16 to 24 to build the life skills that they need to help them manage their tenancy and move towards independence. Through its fostering, it finds safe, loving homes for children and young people who have faced an incredibly difficult start in life. What makes Action for Children stand out, particularly for me, having engaged with it extensively, is its deep commitment not just to service delivery but to lasting change. It works to develop long-term solutions to the challenges that children and young people face and ensures that their voices and experiences shape the decisions that affect their lives, whether on policy, legislation or services. I am sure that every Member will have received at some point over the years a briefing from Action for Children. To mark its 25th anniversary in Northern Ireland, it will be hosting tea parties in every community in which it works. Those tea parties will celebrate the difference that the charity has made over the past quarter of a century by bringing together children, young people, families, and community and statutory partners. They will also acknowledge the ongoing challenges that we in the Chamber cannot ignore and that we have heard so much about, namely that one in four children in Northern Ireland continues to grow up in poverty and that homelessness amongst young people is increasing. I therefore commend Action for Children for its 25 years of outstanding service, and I wish it continued strength in its vital work.

518 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:48 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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