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
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 exploitation, 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
Price: £20:99 (plus postage and packing)
From Stories to Action (Beyond One Size Fits All): Culturally Responsive Support For Trafficking Survivors
Forthcoming AFRUCA Online Event
Date: Wednesday 18 November 2026
Time: 11am - 12:30pm
How can support services better respond to the cultural needs, priorities and lived experiences of trafficking survivors?
Following the launch of our new book: Through the Eyes of Survivors, we are holding a series of follow up events to explore some of the key themes emanating from the different stories we featured in the book.
We are holding our first event: “From Stories to Action - Beyond One Size Fits All” on Wednesday 18 November 2026. This online event will explore what it means to have a culturally responsive, inclusive and survivor-centred approach to supporting people affected by human trafficking and exploitation.
The event will examine the barriers survivors may face when accessing support and identify practical ways to strengthen service delivery, improve safeguarding and promote long-term recovery.
We recommend participants read the AFRUCA book: "Through the Eyes of Survivors" to facilitate an informed, inclusive and interactive session.
Register to attend here
From Stories to Action: Learn More and Register for Other Forthcoming AFRUCA Events
Following the launch of our new book: Through the Eyes of Survivors, we are holding a series of eight follow up events to explore some of the key themes emanating from the different stories we featured in the book.
We are holding our first event: “From Stories to Action - Beyond One Size Fits All” on Wednesday 18 November 2026. See above for details of this event.
We are holding other themed events between December 2026 and June 2027. We recommend participants read the AFRUCA book: "Through the Eyes of Survivors" to facilitate an informed, inclusive and interactive participation in the events.
Forthcoming Events in the “From Stories to Action” series (click on event for registration details):
Our Heartfelt Appreciation
Our most sincere appreciation to everyone who showed up for us as we celebrated our 25th anniversary on the 20th of October 2026.
As part of the event, our Founder and CEO Debbie Ariyo OBE gave a public lecture in which she drew on her 25 years of experience and reflected on the development of AFRUCA’s anti-trafficking work, what survivors have taught us about protection, support and recovery, and the challenges that remain.
A team of survivor-contributors took part in a special conversation moderated by Dr Liz Such of Kings College, London, exploring the themes emerging from their stories in our new book and what they believe needs to change.
We are immensely grateful for all the goodwill messages we received from friends, funders, partners, supporters, service users, volunteers and other well-wishers.
We really appreciate everyone who took time out of their busy schedule to honour us with their presence at our celebratory event on the 20th of October at St Mary’s University in Twickenham.
We are especially grateful to St Mary’s University Bakhita Centre for hosting us on the day and to the students and staff for all their contributions, help and support.
We launched and sold many copies of our new book: “Through the Eyes of Survivors” at the event. We will be holding a series of online and in-person events over the coming months to explore some of the many themes around modern slavery and child trafficking we covered in the book.
Buy a copy of our book “Through the Eyes of Survivors” here
What People Say About AFRUCA
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”.
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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AFRUCA Public Facing Events Calendar
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