Norfolk professionals urged to attend special awareness day to highlight dangers of County Lines
Professionals who work with children and young people are being invited to sign up to a special event aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of criminal exploitation and County Lines in Norfolk.
The all-day event is being hosted by St Giles in conjunction with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk, as part of its ongoing SOS+ Project and will take place on Monday 9 August 2021.
It comes as St Giles launched its latest series of shorter webinar sessions aimed at educating parents and teachers about how best to safeguard young people in danger of being exploited.
Clare Bradley, Contract Manager at St Giles, said: "We are really excited to be running a full-day of awareness raising on the topic of County Lines and Child Criminal Exploitation in partnership with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk.
“We will be hearing from a variety of speakers with experience of the criminal justice system to unpack and explore this complex and cross cutting issue.
“Our webinars for parents and professionals have been really successful and we hope the full-day session will prove equally informative.”
The day event has been developed in response to feedback from the professional and parent webinars St Giles have been running online since September last year.
Hundreds of attendees have so far taken part in the sessions and it is hoped more parents and professionals will sign-up to the latest August, September and October sessions.
Encouraging people to sign-up to one of the events Norfolk’s PCC Giles Orpen-Smellie, said: “We can never do enough to protect our young people. Whether you’re a parent or a professional working with young people, please take the time to sign-up to one of the sessions.
“It is incumbent on us all to do all we can to safeguard children and young people and give them the right tools and education to help make informed decisions about their future.”
St Giles, were first commissioned by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk (OPCCN) in November 2018 to run the SOS+ Project – the webinar sessions were launched virtually in September last year due to restrictions caused by the pandemic.
By the end of each webinar – delivered by those with lived experience - it is hoped attendees will, crucially be able to understand the meaning of the term County Lines, understand the methods used to exploit young people, recognise key signs and indicators and encourage healthy conversations with their children and /or students.
National charity St Giles originally received £89,028 under the Hidden Victims’ Fund and a further £87,737 under the Home Office’s Early Intervention Youth Fund to run the three-year SOS+ Project which aims to provide 120 preventative sessions to around 8,600 schoolchildren in Norfolk.
Intensive one to one support is also offered for those deemed at high risk and awareness raising sessions delivered to parents, professionals and teachers.
Thousands of pupils, parents and teachers have taken part in the initiative. During the pandemic the team at St Giles, have been working hard to ensure the message continues to be spread.
As well as the webinars the team also created an animation, adapted for Key Stages 3 and 4, which tells the story of Nathan who is groomed and exploited by his best friend’s brother.
Find out more..
To book a spot on the full-day event, which takes place between 9.30am and 3pm on Monday 9 August, email sosplusnorfolk@stgilestrust.org.uk, call 0207 708 8047 or visit the St Giles website. Alternatively you can sign-up below:
Sign-up to Awareness Day session >>
To sign up to a shorter webinar session parents and professionals can email: sosplusadmin@stgilestrust.org, call 0207 708 8047 or visit the St Giles website.
Alternatively, you can click on the below dates to open a link and register:
For Professionals:
Tuesday 3 August 10am – 12 noon
Thursday 19 August 10am – 12 noon
Monday 6 September 10am – 12 noon
Friday 24 September 10am – 12 noon
Tuesday 26 October 10am – 12pm
For Parents: