About the author

Andrew Williams has twenty years experience of direct work with children and young people. He is co-founder, former CEO and President Emeritus of Retrak, an organisation widely respected for its work amongst street children in Africa. Andrew was born in Uganda, studied at Edinburgh University and for an MSc in Applied Social Studies at Oxford University before qualifying as a probation officer.

In 1996 Andrew and his wife, Katina, accepted an invitation from Uganda to develop a football club for street boys into a social work organisation. Retrak, under its original name, The Tigers Club Project, was registered in 1997. To widen impact and reflect significant changes, the charity was rebranded and officially launched as Retrak in 2005. Andrew relocated to Kenya to establish a head office in Nairobi and operations began in Ethiopia. In 2006, he was awarded the MBE for services to disadvantaged children in Uganda.

Andrew moved with his family to the UK in 2008. He is a registered social worker and combines an acting career with consultancy, advocacy, training and support for child-focussed NGOs. He hopes this publication will contribute to fulfilling a vision of a world in which every child has dignity and opportunity and no child is forced to live on the street.