First Call Receives Award of Excellence in Advocacy from BC's Representative for Children and Youth

We are pleased to announce that First Call is being honoured by BC’s Representative for Children and Youth for our commitment and hard work on behalf of B.C.’s vulnerable children and youth!

First Call received the award of excellence for advocacy along with the recipients of four other awards at a dinner on October 18, 2010 in Vancouver, in conjunction with the Representative’s Champions for Children and Youth Summit. View a short video about First Call that was prepared for the award ceremony here.

Read the press release from the Representative for Children and Youth and the backgrounder for more information about this award. Here is some of the background information about why First Call is being honoured:

First Call is unique in Canada in bringing organizations and people from many sectors together to focus on advocacy for children and youth. Since its inception in 1991, it has created a coalition of professional and community advocates in support of a prevention and investment agenda for children and youth including but not limited to health, education, social services, youth justice, child protection and anti-poverty groups.

The breadth and depth of these partnerships have provided comprehensive expert advice to successive provincial and federal governments about the needs of B.C.’s children, youth and families and examples of best practices in service delivery.

Since 1999, First Call has undertaken related work to draw attention to the issue of poverty in the province, as well as contributed to the general knowledge of poverty and the growing use of child poverty statistics in the media and the legislature. Challenges such as lack of financial support and keeping child and youth issues on the public agenda have been overcome through a growing capacity and strength of voice, and building strong community collaborations around particular campaigns and initiatives.