We recently hit a new milestone! Since starting the Foundation in 2014, we have educated and empowered over 150,000 children across the UK! We have given all these children the tools they need to keep themselves safe from online grooming, exploitation and abuse.
We are so incredibly grateful for all your help, we couldn't have reached this many children without each and every one of you!
We think that this is a good chance to remind everyone of our core mission.
In the year 2000, only 26% of the UK population was using the internet, yet now it is integral to all our lives and 99% of children in the UK go online regularly. Our shared digital landscape is ever-evolving and children are facing an increasing number of unregulated online spaces that predators, groomers, scammers, and anyone else seeking to cause harm can use. In 2019, it was estimated that more than 200,000 secondary school children may have been groomed online – this is a serious problem that often hides in plain sight, behind screens and inside our young people’s technology.
Breck Foundation was founded in 2014 by Lorin LaFave Gordon in response to the tragic loss of her son Breck Bednar. Over the course of a year, Breck was groomed online. The groomer used cruel lies, manipulation and false promises to gain Breck’s trust and eventually successfully lured Breck to their flat. On February 17th, 2014, Breck was murdered by his online groomer.
Breck Foundation works tirelessly to prevent this from ever happening to another child ever again. However, the battle they face is growing - the amount of young people whose lives are being destroyed or marked forever by digital danger is increasing. We cannot ignore the stories of Molly Russell, Olly Stephens, Frankie Thomas and Christoforos Nicolaou and others which, like Breck’s, all highlight the urgency and necessity of the Breck Foundation’s work.
“It would be easy to simply tell the story of Breck, but the session went way beyond this and used it as a vehicle to provide information and guidance about a wide range of safeguarding factors as well as self-help for students.” – Headteacher at The Langley Academy
The core of the Foundation’s work is centred around reaching thousands of children and young people in schools and community groups with Breck's story every year. Through years of experience, the Foundation has expertly honed a suite of age-appropriate educational sessions through which children and young people are empowered with the knowledge they need to stay safe and happy online.
Breck Foundation fill a gap in the current UK curriculum that otherwise leaves children vulnerable to online grooming and exploitation.
Breck Foundation believes that because everyone has eyes and ears, everyone needs to be aware of the signs of grooming so they can take action, report problems and prevent harm, which is why they deliver sessions to teachers and parents as well, in schools, community groups and corporate settings.
Lorin LaFave Gordon believes that if Breck had heard the Foundations session about online grooming he would still be alive today.
The Breck Foundation is dedicated to making the internet a place where children can live, play and thrive in safety.
