New Campaign To Address Kiwi Child Abuse Launches

A new child abuse campaign aimed at improving the lives of Kiwi children will launch this week.

The Family Works Guardian Angel initiative will help raise funds for Kiwi children and families in need, with one child every three days hospitalised* from child abuse.

Family Works spokesperson Jude Simpson says it’s a statistic we should be ashamed of.

Family violence is not a single outburst, she says, but rather an escalating pressure that gets more damaging every day until it finally explodes. Family Works hopes to help more families before they reach that point.

With a growing waiting list of families requiring help, Simpson says the new Guardian Angel campaign is aimed at getting New Zealanders to help the many families queuing for their services.

Kiwis wanting to assist those in their community are able to do so by donating around a dollar a day. The $30 donated will be used within the sponsors’ own region to help families in need reach their potential, says Simpson.

Family Works services include; counselling, parenting programmes and child therapy so that families can work through their issues and change their behaviours, says Simpson.

“When home is no longer safe, where there’s poverty, family breakdown or children in trouble, we begin by helping a family identify their issues and their strengths. We help them find solutions, set goals and create a plan. Then together we work towards achieving those goals with as much support as possible,” she says.

The campaign television commercial has been given an added boost with Stan Walker, his management and Sony Music Entertainment Australia and Sony Music Entertainment New Zealand allowing Family Works to use Stan’s recording of “Amazing Grace” without charge.

Family Works is the family services branch of Presbyterian Support, New Zealand’s largest provider of social services outside Government.

For more information on the Guardian Angel campaign see www.angel.org.nz