Because of a parent’s imprisonment, children like Luke face serious and lasting challenges. The trauma and disruption caused by losing a parent to the criminal justice system often leads to struggles at school and poor mental health. Despite the scale and seriousness of this experience, these children are frequently overlooked by adults and services alike. They live through a hidden adverse childhood experience (ACE), yet shockingly, no dedicated statutory support exists to recognise or respond to their specific needs.
About Us
A message from co-founders Ingrid & Yvonne:
When we first met 7-year-old Luke, mum had already been in prison for years. Prison was several hundred miles from home and money was tight. This made prison visits tricky. Luke found himself craving the face to face contact with mum that most 7-year olds needed.
Dad and those working alongside his family hadn’t fully appreciated the impact of losing mum on Luke’s everyday life, at least not until teachers became concerned about his withdrawn behaviour and slow progress at school.
As facilitators of a local community-based prisoner family support service, we worked with Luke’s school, his family support worker, a prison social worker and mum’s probation officer to increase understanding of how parental imprisonment affected Luke. Luke soon began to receive much needed support.
With newly confident and skilled adults around him Luke was able to:
Express his feelings about mum’s absence with a trusted teaching assistant, there to support him for the next 4 years of primary school and the remainder of mum’s sentence.
Have an honest, age appropriate chat with dad about mum being in prison and not at work.
Receive a well assessed plan of support from social services following a newly developed understanding of how parental imprisonment had cast a shadow over his life.
With a decade of experience supporting prisoner families and professionals, we’ve both become passionate about making happier lives for these children, so together, founded Corona Kids, a London and Surrey based Social Enterprise, creating supportive communities for children with a parent or close family member involved in the criminal justice system.
The trauma and disruption caused by losing a parent to the criminal justice system often leads to struggles at school and poor mental health.
Why Corona Kids?
A corona is the ring of light visible around the sun during the darkness of an eclipse. Like that light, we work to surround children—whose lives are overshadowed by parental imprisonment—with a circle of care and support. By lifting their voices and standing with them, we create a protective light in their darkest moments.
We know this circle of support makes a real difference — and together, we can make a difference.
Ingrid & Yvonne Co-Founders of Corona Kids
OUR TEAM
Yvonne is a registered Social Worker with 18 years- experience of supporting adults, children and families through a diverse range of traumatic life events in the statutory and voluntary sector. Yvonne has worked directly with children and prisoners’ families for almost a decade, developed and facilitated community and prison- based projects and is an experienced ‘Hidden Sentence Trainer’ and speaker on the needs of prisoners families.
Yvonne Dawes
Co-Founder & Director
Ingrid is a registered social worker who has experience working in the criminal justice and voluntary sectors. She has spent much of this time with the National Probation Service working directly with offenders and prisoners. In more recent years she has turned her attention to the children and families of those subject to imprisonment, co-facilitating and successfully developing the Families Apart Project, managed by Kingston WelCare.
Ingrid Belnavis
Co-Founder & Director
John is CEO of Kingston Racial Equality Council, Vice Chair of the independent advisory group of the Metropolitan Police and member of the Ministry of Justice Hate Crime Independent Advisory Group. John is a contributing author to the book ‘Policing and the legacy of Stephan Lawrence’ and was awarded an OBE in 2007 for services to race relations in London.
John Azah
DirectorOUR MISSION
Corona Kids will strive to improve the life outcomes for children and young people affected by parental imprisonment by creating a community supportive to their needs. Professionals, carers and family members confident in identifying needs and providing effective support.
OUR GOALS
Voice
For the voice of children, young people and their families, to be key to the ongoing development of Corona Kids.
Community
To establish a pro-active community of skilled professionals who recognise that losing a parent to prison is an adverse childhood trauma ( ACE) which requires a focussed response.
Confidence
To increase prisoner family confidence and skill in supporting children and young people prior to, during and following a prison sentence.
Family resilience
To build prisoner family resilience and strengthen family ties to increase the potential for successful rehabilitation. To reduce the risk of further family breakdown and to reduce the likelihood of intergenerational crime.