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A group of civic-minded
citizens founded Singapore Children’s Society on
17 April 1952. Since then we have grown from strength
to strength in providing relief to children in need.
Our first Chairperson was Mrs K M Smyth and first Vice
Chairperson, Mrs Elizabeth Choy. Over the years, with
the support of our dedicated and committed volunteers,
we have been able to achieve much in the social work
arena and pioneer various projects.
We started with a convalescent home for malnourished
children in Changi that was subsequently gazetted as
a Place of Safety in 1988. We were also the pioneer
voluntary welfare orgnisation (VWO) to provide opportunities
for ‘fieldwork’ training to social work undergraduates
from the then University of Malaya.
During the sixties, we founded the Singapore Association
for Retarded Children and together with 3 other children’s
charities also founded the Children’s Charities
Association. In 1969, our inaugural Social Work Service
office opened in Toa Payoh.
Recognising a social trend towards dual income families,
in 1979, we launched a pilot project reaching out to
latchkey children. Then in 1982 and again in1984, the
United Nations Association of Singapore awarded us the
‘Most Outstanding Civic Organisation’ Gold
Award.
1984 also saw the birth of Tinkle Friend, a national
helpline for children aged 7-12 with problems they wished
to share. 4 years later, in 1988, the Society initiated
and developed voluntary services in child abuse prevention.
The Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Standing Committee
was formed to provide guidance and direction for the
work undertaken.
In the nineties, a series of developments took place
including the launch of ‘Project CABIN’, opening
of a Family Service Centre and establishing a Research
Grant for Social Work and Psychology honours and post-graduate
students of the National University of Singapore, to
name a few. The statutory supervision of children Beyond
Parental Control under section 64 of the Children and
Young Persons Act, Cap 38, was handed to us as well.
We published our first monograph titled, ‘Public
Perceptions of Child Abuse & Neglect in Singapore’
in 1996 and have since produced 2 more publications.
Later in that decade, we launched the ‘Vulnerable
Witness Support Programme’ and we are the sole
VWO to provide this service.
As our history bears testimony, we are constantly seeking
new opportunities to reach out to needy children. Together
with you, we have arrived at a milestone overcoming
many challenges along the way. Thus, as we continue
to strive in this work, please join us as ‘We celebrate
Children’ today and tomorrow. |
