Child contact charity’s last ditch appeal for volunteers

Thursday 05 June 2014

A Jersey charity has just weeks left to find a team of volunteers or it will have to close its doors for good leaving some parents in the Island unable to see their children.

Milli’s Child Contact Centre has been providing a neutral space for estranged parents to see their children for the last 14 years but will be closing at the end of the month if it can’t find a dozen more volunteers willing to help local families meet up each week.

The charity runs contact sessions for parents and up to 24 children every Sunday and was shortly due to move premises from Bel Royal School to Springfield School. Some of their long-standing volunteers decided this was time for them to move on too, so founder Denise Carroll made several appeals for more people to join the team. There wasn’t a good response and she’s been left with no choice but to give up on the charity she set up unless a load of people come forward before 29 June.

It’s a big commitment for Milli’s volunteers who are impartial and support parents and children 52 Sundays of the year. They all complete the Child Protection Committee Foundation Course, a first aid course and they are all CRB checked. Mrs Carroll said the team have to be passionate about it and have an empathy with both the parents and children.

Mrs Carroll said: “It’s personally heartbreaking and I’m trying mentally not to think about it. I know some of our parents are really not going to get to see their children.

“I’m quite devastated about what will happen, at the moment we are closing but who knows, miracles might happen, we might get an influx of volunteers.”

You can find out more about the charity at www.millischildcontactcentre.com