Sarah Burrows

Lorraine Trailblazer Award

This year’s Lorraine Trailblazer is a truly exceptional woman whose strength, compassion and vision have brought vital support to a forgotten group in our society. Sarah Burrows is a registered social worker with over 30 years experience.

In 2014, she founded Children Heard and Seen, a charity dedicated to helping children with a parent in prison. An estimated 219,000 children in England and Wales have a parent sent to prison each year. Frequently overlooked, these children often endure profound feelings of separation, grief, and social stigma. They’re also at significant risk of ending up in the criminal justice system themselves. Sarah’s charity provides tailored one-to-one support and group activities designed to alleviate social isolation and break the intergenerational cycle of harm.

During the charity’s early years, Sarah’s work was unpaid, driven entirely by a personal commitment to aid vulnerable families. Through her persistence and leadership, Sarah has transformed CHAS from a kitchen-table project to a charity with a reputation for delivering targeted, impactful support.

“We work to ensure the experiences of children affected by parental imprisonment are heard beyond individual families and communities.”

Sarah’s expertise has led her to present evidence before parliamentary Select Committees and partner with the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit to pioneer groundbreaking early-identification protocols for children of offenders. Over the past year alone, Sarah’s organisation has supported more than 690 children and their families across England and Wales. This transformative work continues to empower children and young people to overcome the adversity of parental imprisonment and successfully flourish into adulthood.