In July, Care for Children hosted delegates from China. The group included government officials and directors from orphanages across the China. Their visit was filled with meetings and activities to introduce our guests to the UK and to discuss and share ideas on social welfare, with the aim to better understand and improve practices, develop relationships and learn from each other.

During the week, the team attended a meeting at the House of Lords with Lord Laming, taking part in discussions on childcare and government systems. The team then went on to meet Baroness Cox to discuss supporting the ‘unheard voice’.

The UK cares for approximately 70,000 looked after children. However, whilst some of our stories in the UK are distressing, some of the most heart-breaking stories come from abandoned children around the globe, where no one even knows the number of vulnerable, abandoned or looked after children. For this reason, the Legatum Institute was delighted to host a meeting during the visit between The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs, Care for Children and Edward Timpson, previously the UK’s Children’s Minister. The conversation focused specifically on the development of family placement (foster care and adoption) in China, with a further focus on child protection. Care for Children has partnered with the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs (governing body) and the China Association of Social Work since 1998. It was heartening to see the great advance that has been made with a generation of orphans now living in families, emptying the orphanages, and establishing new family placement legislation in 2015.

Sir David Tang, a long-term supporter of Care for Children kindly hosted a lunch at the ChinaTang restaurant at the Dorchester Hotel, where our royal patron HRH Prince Michael was the guest of honour.