Hallam gets unique access to new £3m CSE team in Rotherham
The ReachOut project was set up by Barnardo’s after the town's grooming scandal was exposed, along with a lack of outreach work for victims and survivors
Hallam’s been given unique access to a new team set up in Rotherham to prevent child sexual exploitation.
The £3.1m ReachOut project was set up by Barnardo’s after the town's grooming scandal was exposed, along with a lack of outreach work for victims and survivors.
A team of 15 new workers are now in post in the town, engaging with children, young people and families. They also work with community groups, schools, colleges and health services to raise awareness of how to spot the signs of sexual exploitation.
“At the moment we’re getting about five or six referrals a day, plus enquiries,” says team leader Ellen Buchley.
“We can then signpost and help young people to get the right service at the point of contact. Really impressive I feel is the amount of parents ringing up for support. So we don’t just work with the child, we also work with the families.
“Children will talk about what’s happening and say ‘oh I didn’t realise that was wrong’. Especially for things like sexting, which actually is illegal. What’s difficult for professionals in statutory services is they’re dealing with high risk cases all the time.
“This enables us to get to young people that may not
be at that high risk threshold. These are young people
that no one knows things are happening to.”
The team were in Rotherham town centre today for Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day, urging people to spot abuse and speak out against it.