The Lighthouse is a service that provides a safe space to support children and young people, from 0-18, in their recovery from sexual abuse or exploitation. It will also support young adults aged 18-25 with learning disabilities or additional needs if the Lighthouse would best meet their needs. The service is provided by UCLH working with the Met Police and the NSPCC, who provide the LTFI service.
The Lighthouse works in line with the Barnahus model (translated from Icelandic as Child House) which started in Iceland, and has been widely adopted in the UK, Europe and beyond as model of best practice. This model has shown to help reduce children’s trauma, gather better evidence from police interviews, and increase prosecutions for child sexual abuse. The Lighthouse is the first Barnahus in the UK.
We accept self-referrals and referrals from professionals for children and young people in Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington.
Referral
To make a referral, contact us on thelighthouse.
You can also download a referral form.
For immediate help for a child or young person who has suffered sexual assault within the last seven days, contact The Havens, the London Sexual Assault Referral Centre.
Video: The Lighthouse: a place of support for young people who've experienced sexual abuse
A family talks about their experience at the UCLH Lighthouse service
Address
The Lighthouse
7-9 Greenland Place
London NW1 0AP
Telephone
Public: 0808 169 8112
Professionals: 020 3049 0010
Web
The Lighthouse is a multi-disciplinary service for children and young people who have experienced any form of sexual abuse, including exploitation. We offer a child-centred approach, providing assessment, treatment, guidance and support to help children and young people on their journey of recovery.
At the Lighthouse we focus on getting children the right help at the right time, by putting everything they need under one roof. Physical and emotional health and wellbeing, safeguarding, advocacy, and support through the criminal justice process by Children's Independent Violence Advisors, are delivered from one place, by professionals working closely together to offer joined up care.
A child and family practitioner will be the main point of contact for children and their families through their time at the Lighthouse. They will help make sure the family receives all the support they need easily and quickly and will also support children and young people through the court process.
A play specialist will help children prepare for the medical assessments with the paediatrician who is supported by a nurse. The child or young person can be seen alone or with a parent, carer or trusted adult.
A clinical psychologist can conduct the Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) interview, with support from a police officer in our child-friendly interview suite. By supporting the child or young person's developmental and emotional needs we can help reduce re-traumatisation and gather the best evidence.
Early and long-term support is offered through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and the NSPCC’s Letting the Future In (LTFI) service. This additional emotional support helps children and young people to recover.
The Lighthouse is funded through a combination of a commissioning partnership between NHS England, North Central London Integrated Care Board and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), and charitable funding.
