In 2013, the campaign, targeting a petition towards MEP Jean Lambert focused on raising awareness at the EU level of the various challenges to which these children are vulnerable. The facts and figures on which the campaign was based came from several sources at the local and European level.
Having participated in the Children of Prisoners: Mitigations and Interventions to Strengthen Mental Health (COPING) Research Project (funded by the FP7 Framework Programme of the European Commission), Children of Prisoners Europe (at that time Eurochips) launched the 4th Annual European Prisoners’ Children Campaign on a foundation of information taken from research conducted over the past 3 years on children of prisoners in Europe.
The 2013 Not my Crime, Still my Sentence campaign focused on gathering signatures online through a petition widget created in accordance with the European Commission Citizen Action regulations. The campaign was virtual-only and individuals throughout the Eurochips network worked diligently to spread word of the campaign outside the network in order to raise awareness on the importance of lobbying for these children.
With the combination of Ms Lambert’s commitment to the cause for children of prisoners, the work of the wide Eurochips network and the individuals who took the time to sign the petition, the cause for children of prisoners had an opportunity to make a real impact at the EU level.