Safe and Sound charity’s £24,460 boost to help young people at risk of exploitation in Derbyshire

Safe And Sound transforms the lives of young people who could otherwise become victims of crime through sexual, County Lines, trafficking, modern slavery and radicalisation routes.

The Derbyshire-based charity successfully applied for funding from the county Police and Crime Commissioner’s Community Action Grant Scheme.

This boost will enable the employment of a specialist support to families directly impacted by child exploitation including the child, siblings and parents.

Police commissioner Hardyal Dhindsa said: “There are many vulnerable young people in need of support and guidance to protect them from exploitation. Safe and Sound's work not only helps prevent young people from becoming victims of crime, it also offers support to the whole family which is vital in mitigating all the risks children are exposed to today from social media through to unhealthy or harmful relationships."

Since January this year, the charity has worked with 123 young people and their families. The youngest person supported was seven years old with the majority then being 14-16-years-old. A third were male and two thirds female and 30% of the young people had special educational needs or disability. The majority of referrals have been around child sexual exploitation - particularly online grooming which has increased during lockdown - but the charity is seeing increasing risk of other criminal exploitation - including County Lines.

Tracy Harrison, chief executive of Safe and Sound, said: "The impact on the wider family of young people who have been or are at risk of being targeted by perpetrators cannot be underestimated and I am delighted that we now have a dedicated resource to support them.

"Our holistic family support work also addresses the wider issues that affect families - particularly financial hardship and isolation - which can make young people vulnerable to grooming for criminal purposes such as County Lines.”