Check Point, a drop-in centre in Torbay, Devon, is run by the Children's Society and offers a one-bedroom "crash-pad" where children and young people at risk of immediate harm can stay for up to four nights while project workers mediate with families or arrange longer-term safe care.
Staff stress that the purpose-built refuge is only part of the service to runaways, which revolves around mediation, conciliation and support to children as young as 10.
"We know all too well the dangers young people face when they are on the streets," says refuge project manager Caroline Jones. "They may be sexually exploited or they may be forced into criminal activity in order to survive. The refuge is a safe place and a last resort for young runaways and we will actively work with these young people and their families to try to resolve issues or to place them in a more secure and stable environment."
Such refuges are rare. Services for runaway children often are patchy or non-existent, despite a requirement by local authorities to help young runaways. A report this week, commissioned by the Children's Society, estimates that 100,000 under-16s run away from home or care each year in the UK, and that one in six is forced to sleep rough or with strangers, and one in 12 has been harmed.
Despite these startling figures, there are only three official refuges in the UK, with a total of 10 beds. The Children's Society is now calling for government to fund a national network of safe houses.
Checkpoint opened the doors of its refuge six months ago, following a £100,000 grant from the Department for Education and Skills. Jones says the emergency shelter was a natural extension of a five-year initiative that offered support and advice to youngsters fleeing home. Over the last 12 months, it has worked with 130 children, mostly teenage girls who have run away because of a communication breakdown.
"Often they come to us instead of going to school," Jones says. "We sit down and talk and, in most cases, manage to get the children home after a mediation process. But there are a small but significant number who may be at great risk, who need the refuge. In the past, all we could do was refer them to social services."
Most runaways stay just a couple of nights in the crash-pad, and during the day they work with staff - including social workers and counsellors - on resolving problems.
Martine Osmond, head of the Torbay service, says: "We try to help the children and parents to see each other's point of view. Where there are allegations of abuse, staff at the centre alert social services."
Efforts are currently being made to seek funding from councils, central government and the national lottery to secure the service's future .
Anna heard about the service at school, so she knew where to get help. "It was the first time anyone asked me properly why I was running away," she says. "Everyone got together and had a big meeting about what was wrong. Mum said she understood how I'd been feeling, and me and my stepdad agreed to try to get on better."
