What would you pray for, if you were ten again?

What do you remember wishing for at ten years old? A new bike? A sleepover with your best friend? A trip to Disneyland?

It's a question that takes you right back to childhood.

But when Youth Aliyah Child Rescue asked children across its five youth villages in Israel what they would pray for, their answers were very different.

Tamar, 10, at our Animal Therapy Centre. Photo by Youth Aliyah Child Rescue.[Missing Credit]

One ten-year-old, Tamar, wished the nightmares would stop. "The sirens have made me afraid," she wrote. Another child dreamed of one day caring for her own family the way her foster family cares for her: "They're showing me what it feels like to be part of a loving family." One worried whether there would be enough food for his younger siblings: "My father is in the reserves and my mother has no money to feed my younger siblings. I hope the youth village can keep helping so I can stop worrying." And a teenager who discovered healing through our specialist music therapy programme wished his friends could experience the same: "Music has helped me heal. I hope we can get new instruments so all my friends can benefit too."

Foster father and foster sons at Talpiot Youth Village. Photo by Youth Aliyah Child Rescue.[Missing Credit]

These are not the prayers of children who have had a difficult week.

They are the prayers of children who have had a difficult childhood.

Youth Aliyah Child Rescue believes something profoundly important: a child's beginning does not have to determine their future.

For over 90 years, it has supported vulnerable children and young people across Israel. Its involvement can begin when a child is just three years old and continue through childhood, adolescence and into independent adult life. And sometimes they come to Youth Aliyah Child Rescue at 14, giving it just a few short years to change their destiny.

Before arriving at the charity’s Talpiot Youth Village, Tamar's childhood was defined by abuse, fear and instability. Talpiot became the first place she had ever truly felt safe.

Through months of therapy and time at the Youth Village's animal therapy centre, Tamar slowly began to trust again. Surrounded by specialist support, she was given the space to process what she had experienced and begin rebuilding the confidence that trauma had taken from her. She began to smile.

Then came October 7.

The sirens, war and uncertainty brought back fears Tamar had worked so hard to overcome. Today, she is still living with that trauma. Her wish that the nightmares would stop is not a story from the past. It is her wish now.

And that is why the work of Youth Aliyah Child Rescue is so urgent.

For Tamar, healing means continuing to have access to expert therapeutic care. It means professionals who understand trauma, educators who recognise the pain that can sit behind a child's behaviour, and a stable, nurturing environment where she can feel safe enough to keep moving forward.

Because child rescue is only the beginning.

There is no quick fix for a childhood shaped by trauma. Healing takes expertise, consistency and time. A child can make extraordinary progress and still need help when fear returns.

That is why Youth Aliyah Child Rescue’s commitment does not end when the immediate crisis does. It supports children through the setbacks and breakthroughs, through school and teenage years, education and the daunting leap into independence.

Its work is not finished when a child is safe tonight.

The real measure is who they are able to become tomorrow.

• £50 can put a guitar into the hands of a child finding their voice through music.

• £100 can provide a month of trauma therapy.

• £500 can give five foster families, caring for 50 children, a special meal together.

But ultimately, your donation provides something that cannot be counted in pounds: the chance for a child to imagine a future that looks nothing like their past.