Believe us. Give us choice. Listen to us. Respect us. Support us.

This week (23-27 June), The Children’s Society are encouraging us to #LookCloser

The week (June 23-27), The Children’s Scoiety encourages you to #LookCloser

Listening and responding to young people helps create safer spaces and provide better support for victims of child exploitation. That’s why The Children’s Society has created a guide to help professionals build trusted relationships with young people.

We are pleased to share this exclusive FREE opportunity, organised in partnership with NWG, as part of the Bedfordshire Sport Welfare Officer offer.

We are pleased to share details of the Children’s Society’s upcoming #LookCloser Programme of Learning events for April - September 2025, all of which are free of charge.  

#LookCloser is a partnership campaign between The Children's Society, the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre and the British Transport Police aiming to raise awareness of child exploitation and abuse and to encourage the public and businesses to better identify and report concerns. The campaign also seeks to challenge assumptions and victim stereotypes, highlighting that child exploitation can happen anywhere, and any young person can be a victim.  

From 1st April 2025, Bedfordshire Police and Children's Social Care (Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton) will implement the Philomena Protocol.

The Philomena Protocol is a scheme that asks carers to identify children and young people who are at risk of going missing, and to record vital information about them that can be used to help find them quickly and safely.

Half a million children suffer abuse and neglect a year in the UK. But there’s something we can all do to change that. We know that, with the right support, every child can be kept safe. We can stop abuse and even prevent it from happening. But to do this, we need to work together. Even if children aren’t a big part of your everyday life, you’ll still share a community with them – whether that’s on your street, your commute or at the shops. Knowing how to speak up for them is essential.

Learn how the NSPCC are keeping children safe in the East of England

We're excited to invite you to the first NSPCC East of England Virtual Open Day, where you'll learn how we can work together to protect children and support families across the region.

Safer Internet Day is the UK’s biggest celebration of online safety. Each year we cover an online issue or theme that speaks about the things young people are seeing and experiencing online. Created in consultation with young people across the UK, this year Safer Internet Day will be focusing on the issue of scams online and for young people, how to protect themselves and others, as well as what support is available to them.

CHILD EXPLOITATION IS A FORM OF ABUSE THAT INVOLVES THE MANIPULATION AND/OR COERCION OF YOUNG PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 18.

On 18th March 2025 the NWG want to highlight the issues surrounding CSE In Communities; for 2025. They are encouraging everyone to think, spot, and speak out against abuse and adopt a zero tolerance to child exploitation. #CEADay25

This is a free CPD session aimed at children’s work force, social care, teachers, all schools and education staff, parents and carers.

The session addresses the significant counter terrorism risk where self-initiated extremism can lead to terrorism. A phenomenon almost exclusively that takes place online, this session will look at how and in what ways this can happen, as well as considering some online and offline solutions.

Join us on Tuesday March 18th, 2025 (National Child Exploitation Awareness Day) for an insightful session on Organised Crime, Exploitation, Serious Violence, and Disruption, where we will explore the challenges our communities face and discuss effective strategies to combat these issues.

This workshop is designed to increase practitioner confidence in discussing international conflict - think war, terrorism, violence - with young people and community members. The session will teach mentoring skills and best practice facilitation to support practitioners to safely engage with at-risk young people on controversial, sensitive, and often painful subjects.