AFRUCA
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN
Help us to protect more children in our community
With offices in London and Manchester, we work in UK Black and Ethnic communities to protect and safeguard children from abuse, modern slavery and exploitation. We tackle cultural and religious practices that harm children.
Our Services
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Child Protection and Family Support Service
Our multi - disciplinary team of experienced and qualified social workers provide a culturally tailored consultation service for child protection professionals and, Child Protection assessment, positive parenting training and support services for parents in the UK Child Protection system. We take referrals from local authorities and other agencies across the UK.
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Child Exploitation and Serious Violence Programme
AFRUCA delivers a holistic menu of services to support children, young people and families in Black and ethnic communities at risk of or affected by child exploitation and serious violence. Our prevention and early intervention work includes provision of 1-2-1 support for parents of children at risk and providing mentoring, practical support and learning activities for young people.
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AFRUCA Specialist Training Programme For Professionals
We deliver a range of specialist training programmes for agencies and their staff working with Black and Ethnic children and families and those who provide services to meet their needs. We tailor make bespoke courses to meet organisational needs and priorities. Our training sessions are deiivered face-to-face or virtually
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AFRUCA's Networks of Influence
Our “Networks of Influence” aim to strengthen the voices of marginalised communities across the country affected by modern slavery, child protection and child exploitation. We want to create opportunities for grass-root collaborative and partnership approaches to tackle issues affecting our communities.
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Modern Slavery Programme
AFRUCA works to address modern slavery and exploitation experienced by children and young people trafficked into the UK. We partner with other agencies to provide culturally appropriate support and care to meet their needs.
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Community Volunteering Programme
AFRUCA employs a volunteer-led approach to address many of the issues that affect children in Black and ethnic community across England. The idea is to create a ripple effect of change through peer-to-peer learning and active citizenship. We have devised a range of Community Champions initiatives focusing on a range of issues, including Modern Slavery, Child Protection and Female Genital Mutilation
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Community Education Programme
AFRUCA works in partnership with a range of community and faith based organisations to improve knowledge of child safeguarding and how to keep children safe from abuse and harm.
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Schools Education Programme
AFRUCA works with schools, colleges and alternative education provisions across the country to deliver training courses to meet the needs of pupils, staff and parents. We work with schools to raise awareness about different forms of intra and extra-familial harm towards children.
We have been safeguarding children since 2001
Debbie Ariyo OBE - Founder and CEO
Prompted by the deaths of a number of newly arrived children in the UK, Debbie Ariyo, a former Civil Servant, founded AFRUCA in 2001 to address child safeguarding and child trafficking issues in African diaspora communities and provide services to help support children and families and rehabilitate victims.
Through The Eyes of Survivors: Exploring AFRUCA’s 25 Years of Anti-Trafficking Work
£20.99
About the Book
To mark our 25th anniversary, AFRUCA is proud to present Through The Eyes of Survivors: Exploring AFRUCA’s 25 Years of Anti-Trafficking Work.
This powerful and moving publication features the personal accounts, thoughts, and reflections of 25 former and present AFRUCA service users. Through their own words, survivor-participants courageously map their unique journeys toward escape, rescue, and freedom.
The narratives offer a raw, insightful look into:
The Lived Reality: Personal experiences of child trafficking, modern slavery, and exploitation.
Navigating Systems: The complex challenges of moving through government support systems and fighting to access justice for the violation of basic rights.
The Power of Support: Candid feedback on AFRUCA’s specialised services during times of profound vulnerability, exploring how transformative, culturally responsive and survivor-centered support aids recovery, safety, and long-term independence.
"AFRUCA remains as essential today as it did 25 years ago. There has been progress but there is still a long way to go to tackle modern slavery. AFRUCA is as relevant and essential as ever in being part of the solution."
— Dame Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch
By purchasing this book, you are not only gaining a vital educational resource on the realities of modern slavery and child protection, but you are also directly supporting AFRUCA's ongoing mission to protect victims and survivors of modern slavery and child trafficking
Format: Paperback
Publisher: AFRUCA Safeguarding Children
Publication Year: 2026
What People Say About AFRUCA
AFRUCA Trustees Recruitment 2026
Positions Vacant: Vacancies for AFRUCA Members of the Board of Trustees
AFRUCA is looking to appoint up to five new Trustees to join our Board.
We are keen to ensure our Board is very representative of those who use our services, is ethnically diverse and geographically representative of the communities we serve. We want to attract new Trustees who are UK legal residents/citizens, originally from other parts of Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and other ethnic minority groups. We are especially interested to attract people with the lived experience of our work on different forms of child abuse, modern slavery, child trafficking, exploitation and forced migration.
AFRUCA 25th Anniversary Celebration
Celebrating 25 years of protecting children, supporting survivors and tackling trafficking and exploitation
Event details
Date: Tuesday, 20 October 2026
Arrival, registration and light lunch: 12.00pm
Formal programme: 13.00pm–4.30pm
Anniversary reception: 4.30pm–6.30pm
Venue: The Waldegrave Suite, St Mary’s University, Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, TW1 4SX
Join us at AFRUCA on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, at The Waldegrave Suite, St Mary’s University, Twickenham, for our 25th Anniversary Lecture, Book Launch and Reception.
This special event will reflect on AFRUCA’s journey since 2001 through the experiences and perspectives of survivors who have been part of our anti-trafficking work.
The centrepiece of the event will be AFRUCA’s 25th Anniversary Book Launch and Lecture.
Delivered by Debbie Ariyo OBE, Founder and Chief Executive of AFRUCA Safeguarding Children, the lecture will draw on her 25 years of experience and reflection on the development of AFRUCA’s anti-trafficking work, what survivors have taught us about protection, support and recovery, and the challenges that remain.
The event will also mark the official launch of AFRUCA’s new book, Through the Eyes of Survivors: Exploring AFRUCA’s 25 Years of Anti-Trafficking Work. Developed through our 25 for 25 project, the publication brings together the stories and reflections of 25 survivors, documenting their experiences of exploitation, support, recovery and change.
Survivor contributors will take part in a special conversation exploring the themes emerging from their stories and what they believe needs to change. An expert panel will bring perspectives from policy, law, research and frontline practice to consider how survivor experiences can inform better systems, services and responses to trafficking.
The formal programme will conclude with reflections on AFRUCA’s next chapter, followed by our 25th Anniversary Reception.
Free event but donations are welcome.
AFRUCA
Marks 25th Anniversary
With Hope for the Future
We at AFRUCA - SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN are so happy to celebrate our 25th anniversary this year 2026. We have a lot of positive memories of all our work and achievements since inception in 2001, propelled by the deaths of children newly arrived in the UK, killed by their carers and others. We have been around to participate and influence a range of government policies, legislation and systemic changes to improve protection and safeguarding of children, improve protection for victims of abuse, modern slavery and human trafficking. Our work has directly and positively impacted tens of thousands of children, young people, their families and their communities. The past few years have been tough for us, just like many other small charities in the UK as a result of gaps in financial support and of course the hostile environment towards migrant and ethnic minority groups. However, we are very delighted to still be around to continue fighting for children for many years to come.
We thank all our friends, supporters, funders, partners and service users for all their contributions to the success of AFRUCA.
Learn more about supporting our work here
AFRUCA Child Protection and Family Support Service
The AFRUCA Child Protection and Family Support Service is a team of qualified social workers. The overall goal of our service is to help reduce the number of children in Black, Asian and Ethnic communities going into the foster care system through effective one to one practical support, advocacy and positive parenting training for their parents. This will help improve parents’ skills and capacity to provide a safer and happier home environments for their children.
This is a paid service working nationally with Black, Asian and ethnic families open to children’s social services. The children we work with are age 0-18 years. We offer early intervention support, provide culturally responsive specialist assessments and positive parenting training and advocacy.
AFRUCA-BASNET Report on Community Engagement and Access To Support for Migrant Care Workers
Alongside our project partners, AFRUCA and our network The UK BME Antislavery Network launched a new report which detailed our work with migrant workers under the government’s Certificate of Sponsorship visa programme for health workers in Greater Manchester. Majority of our project beneficiaries had experienced different forms of exploitation.
Funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the project was delivered by a consortium of eight organisations working together to help address the exploitation and abuse of international care workers across the region.
AFRUCA 25 For 25 Project: Honouring Survivors of Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
“I started AFRUCA Safeguarding Children in May 2001 because I was bothered about children being trafficked into the UK for exploitation, being harmed, abused, even killed.
That was exactly 25 years ago.
So many people have passed through our doors in all that time. Many are still in contact with us. Some are not.
I have often wondered - how do we measure the long term impact of all the work we did with the survivors? How can we be sure that the support we provided 15, 20 or 10 years ago has been instrumental in someone’s journey up till the present day?
To collate all this data, I am delighted we are launching the 25for25 project at AFRUCA by following the stories of 25 of our former service users”.
AFRUCA Study Group
on Cultural Influences
and Child Safeguarding - Last Call Manchester
The last session of our Study Group on Child Safeguarding and Cultural Influences is taking place in Manchester on Monday 29 June 2026. We have a few more places for delegates.
Our Study Groups are designed to be close and intimate sessions, affording a few number of participants the opportunity to deep dive into key safeguarding children issues and their intersection with race, religion and culture. They are also spaces for professionals to explore ongoing issues in a safe and secured environment. The ultimate aim is to provide a strong opportunity to deepen participants’ knowledge and understanding of cultural sensitivity in safeguarding to help improve engagement and support for the children in their care.
This event will be held as part of a series of activities to mark our 25th anniversary.
Dates
Manchester (Ardwick) - Monday 29th June 2026
Cost: £50 per delegate (inc: resources, refreshments and lunch).
Why Attend?
Exclusive Access: Limited number of participants per location for a highly interactive and personalised learning experience.
Engaging Topics: Delve into critical child protection issues such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Faith-based Abuse, and the Trafficking and Exploitation of Black children and explore the intersection of culture, safeguarding and child protection.
Practical Insights: Learn through real-world case studies, scenario-based discussions, and expert guidance from AFRUCA trainer, improving your cultural competence to work with children from diverse backgrounds.
Certificate of Participation: Receive a certificate at the end of the event as a formal acknowledgment of your participation and commitment to safeguarding children.
To register:
visit here to register for the Manchester event on 29 June 2026
For enquiries, or if you would prefer to be invoiced, group/team bookings etc, please contact us at info@afruca.org
From our Archives - AFRUCA’s Past in Photos
AFRUCA Training course for mental health workers on working with culture. November 2008
Between 2012 and 2015, AFRUCA recruited and trained dozens of children’s champions, campaigning against child abuse across the UK
AFRUCA Summit on African Children and Families, London, April 2017
Pupils of parkview school in haringey dramatising a play depicting the life of a Nigerian boy who was trafficked for domestic servitude and was a pupil of the school at AFRUCA 9th Anniversary event in the House of Commons, Portcullis House. May 2010
Cross section of delegates at AFRUCA's House of Commons Summit on the Branding of Children as Witches held on 18 April 2012
AFRUCA Anti FGM Champions worked across Manchester to campaign against Female Genital Mutilation - 2012-2014
AFRUCA’s 20th Anniversary Documentary Video
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