AFRUCA
Community Champions
Initiative



The Work and Achievements:
AFRUCA employs a volunteer-led approach to addressing many of the issues that affect children in the BME community across England. The idea is to create a ripple effect of change through peer-to-peer learning. We have devised a range of community Champions initiatives focusing on a range of issues, including Modern Slavery, Child Protection and Female Genital Mutilation. Over 200 volunteers are involved in our Community Champions initiative, helping to promote new knowledge within their own community as active citizens, reaching thousands of people in the process.
With funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government, we recruited and trained 20 young people to become Anti-FGM champions, as part of a pilot project across Greater Manchester. The idea is to enable young people to become Peer-Educators, going into schools across the region to train and educate other young people about how Female Genital Mutilation can be harmful and what to do to support young people at risk. Through this programme, we worked in over 20 schools, churches, mosques and youth groups across Greater Manchester. Our young people took part in media programmes, helping to promote the anti-FGM message and educating people in the process. We are awaiting funding from Tudor Trust to help us continue this exciting piece of work.
Quote: “The knowledge and delivery of these trainings gave me better skills in parenting my children and the children around me.” (AFRUCA Children’s Champion)
Funders: Home Office, Department for Education and Families, Department for Communities and Local Government