Dear friend,

“We felt judged, misunderstood, and alone—until AFRUCA gave us hope and the tools to change.”

— Mr Johnson

When Mr and Mrs Johnson arrived in the UK with their three children, they hoped to build a better life. But soon, they found themselves caught between two worlds—trying to maintain their cultural values while navigating a new country’s laws, expectations, and systems that didn’t seem to understand them.

After a safeguarding referral was made following a disciplinary incident at home, the children were removed from their care. It was a deeply painful experience. The parents felt overwhelmed by the child protection process, misunderstood by professionals, and fearful that their children would be lost to them forever.

That’s when they were referred to AFRUCA’s Cultural Parenting Intervention.

Over several weeks, Mr and Mrs Johnson participated in tailored sessions to equip parents with the tools to safeguard their children in a new context, whilst honouring their cultural identity.

By the end of the programme, both parents had made significant progress:

 They developed a deeper understanding of non-violent parenting.

 They began to view their children not as “small adults” but as individuals with feelings, needs, and rights.

 They learned to replace shouting with calm dialogue, and to validate their children’s emotions.

 They recognised the need to balance cultural values with UK safeguarding laws.

 They became more confident in engaging with social workers and professionals.

 Most importantly—they became hopeful again.

The AFRUCA social worker also helped to improve communication between the family and the local authority, advocating for a reunification plan.

Mrs Johnson described the programme as “life-changing.”

Following the intervention, the Local Authority began preparing for the children’s return home. Reunification is now underway—with the family stronger, more informed, and better supported than ever before.

This story is one of many families helped by AFRUCA that I could tell you, dear friend.

Because we have been supporting our community for 25 years, we have the tools and the networks to change lives. Indeed, we have supported more than 5,000 parents, like Mr and Mrs Johnson to rebuild their families.

What we now need is people like you, who will walk with us, and support our work with a monthly gift to allow us to keep doing what we do.

Will you become a founding member of our Guardian Circle and change lives by giving £10 a month?

Please do consider helping in this way. Regular gifts from people like you are so much reliable than funding bids, which, although they can be large, are increasingly difficult to achieve with competition for funds increasing all the time.

I thank you on behalf of all of the families we help and could help with your support, for considering this.

Debbie Ariyo

CEO AFRUCA