Q&A about running away from home with experts Andy McCullough & Charlie Hedges. Aviva will donate £2 to charity Railway Children for every post - CLOSED

[RachelMumsnet]

You may have seen last month that the charity Railway Children is working with Aviva to provide help and support to children who have run away from home, or are at risk of doing so. It's estimated that one child runs away from home or care every five minutes in the UK. They've helped us to build some information on the reasons why children run away and how to spot the warning signs.

We were astounded by your response, with many of you sharing very personal stories and experiences. So many people have been touched by this issue and by sharing your thoughts, you have already helped us raise £18,422 for Railway Children.

Your comments have also raised lots of questions, so to answer everything and anything you'd like to ask - but never previously knew who to go to - about the topic of running away from home, we have invited the following experts to answer your questions:

·         Andy McCullough Head of UK Policy & Public Affairs at Railway Children
·         Charlie Hedges from CEOP, an organisation that deals with child exploitation and online protection

For every (proper & real!) question submitted, Aviva will donate £2 to Railway Children. You can post a maximum of three questions on the thread. Aviva will donate up to £100,000 by the end of 2012 as part of the Mumsnet campaign.

£2 will also be donated for everyone who 'likes' and recommends this thread on Facebook (by clicking 'Recommend' at the top) and if you 'like' any of the articles here

Do please join in, have your questions answered and help that money stack up!

Send your questions for the experts before Sunday 25th November and we'll link to their answers to up to 20 questions from this page on Monday 10th December.

[Lua]

hat does Aviva actually does to help children at risk?

[NancyMumsnet]

Hello, sorry for the delay! We've got the answers back now.
Here they are.

[ShadeMumsnet]

Sorry, the answers to this Q&A will now be going up slightly later than promised. We'll post a link to the answer page on Friday afternoon.

[connorandmaddiesmom]

what % of children run away because of some kind of abuse? and what % get abused by other adult homeless people?also how many railway children end up becoming some kind of addict to alcahol or drugs ?

[yellowdomino]

When are we going to get the answers to this please?

[ginbob]

To what extent are the budget cuts and economic strain the country is under, making this problem worse, would you say?

[OhWesternWind]

What help is available to families of runaway children, and the children themselves, when they've returned to the family?

[OhWesternWind]

Why do children tend to run away? From my experience it was due to upset about a family problem, but it this the most common reason?

[OhWesternWind]

My daughter ran away, briefly, thank goodness, last year whilst she was in an upset state about some family problems. What is the best way to speak to a youngish child (she's now ten) about the real dangers of running away, particularly for a girl, without frightening her unnecessarily?

[noidles]

Bumping! RachelMumsnet says we can add up to 3 posts about running away and £2 will be donated for every post. Surely more people can get posting?

[RachelMumsnet]

The Q&A is now closed and the answers will be back on the 10 December, but until that point you can use this thread to discuss the issues of running away and every post with donate £2 to the charity Railway Children (you can post a maximum of 3 times).

[elfonashelf]

all the questions I want to ask have already been said, but I want to add my £6, so I'll just add them anyway:

1. When a child runs away and is returned, are they likely to run away again?
   
2. What is the average age a child runs away?
   
3. Are there safe places for runaways? Where are these?

[happyknickers]

I hope that is my £6 added to the pot :)

Surely more people want to add their £6 to the pot? Would be so easy to raise lots more money. Aviva, I think this is a really great that you're getting involved in this.

[cm22v077]

3. Is there anything I can do to help reduce the amount of children who runaway?

[happyknickers]

What percentage of runaways are actually found?

[cm22v077]

2. Have their been any studies about why children runaway? What's the most common reason? Are there any signs to look out for?

[cm22v077]

Sorry if these have been asked before, thanks for coming to Mumsnet.

1. How do people cope with the aftermath of one of their children running away? Must be so painful to pretend everything is fine when you're petrified your child might run away again- is there much support available?

[happyknickers]

Are there any studies that say what happens to runaways when they are adult - is there a higher percentage of mental illness, crime or poverty in previous runaways? I presume it does all depend on what happens to them and if they get help.

[happyknickers]

When a child runs away and gets found, what usually happens? Do they get sent straight back to their family, or are they taken away? How do you decide what happens to them?

[knowmebetterman]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but what should you do if you come across or know of a child that has run away is there any advice you can offer?

[knowmebetterman]

What is the average age of a runaway and is it usually girls or boys?

[knowmebetterman]

Does the age of a runaway child make a difference in the reasons they give for running away? Like if a teen runs away is their reason different to a 10 year old?