People are encouraged to help neglected children

The ISPCC’s Leanbh service wants people in Dublin to report children who beg on the streets.

 

The society’s service even wants those who come across young children begging to go as far as contacting their out of hours service, if not the Gardaí.

 

The aim is to reduce homelessness in Dublin and to help minority groups, particularly during this festive time of the year.

 

Originally established in 1997, the goal of the service was to address the issue of beggary among children and vulnerable families.

 

Since it was founded, Leanbh has worked with the most disadvantaged families, which helped the service develop valuable expertise.

 

Current employees spend countless hours working on the streets trying to help these youngsters, while Leanbh provides a number of preventative services to minority communities.

 

“With so many of us enjoying this festive time of year, Leanbh wants to protect the most vulnerable and isolated children in our society.  We feel strongly that this problem is best tackled with the support of the community,” says the ISPCC’s Siobhan Harvey.

 

Since the Leanbh service was established, the ISPCC say that child begging has reduced.

 

Those who see children involved in beggary on the streets of Dublin are advised to contact their out of hours service which can be found on www.ispcc.ie.