GET THERE launch to help young people stay safe

The partnership has worked with youth groups and community services that work with young people over 16 years across Worcestershire to develop a specific response to tackling Child Criminal exploitation.

This includes a practitioner's guidance and website for young people.

Three launch events were held for the GET THERE guidance and website for young people on Thursday 17 March.



This was organised in partnership with Heart of Worcestershire College and held at The Spires Theatre on their Worcester campus.

On the VIP guest list for the performance, alongside college students, were school students and the youth groups that helped in the development of GET THERE - with a total of 152 young people attending throughout the day.  

At the launch, young people experienced a professional theatre company highlighting what exploitation is and how it can escalate quickly.

The drama was hard hitting and covered topics including drug trafficking, criminal and sexual exploitation, explaining to young people about the methods perpetrators might use to engage and then exploit young people.

Young people had the chance to ask questions anonymously and answer polls about how confident they felt spotting the signs of exploitation and who they would tell if they were worried about themselves or a friend.

Results showed that, after the events, young people had a better understanding of what exploitation is and were more confident in spotting the signs. They also highlighted that the top issues young people are worried about in their community are sexual abuse, knife crime and spiking in pubs and clubs.

Tina Russell, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Children First and Director of Children’s Services said: “These events are another example of the impact that GET THERE can make within our community. To have support from our local colleges and young people to create these events to discuss an uncomfortable topic such as exploitation is a great success for Worcestershire.”

Worcestershire Children First received an iESE Certificate of Excellence at a recent award due to the exemplary standard of the work demonstrated in their submission for GET SAFE and GET THERE.

From the work carried out with young people in Worcestershire Children First staff found that there are additional concerns and vulnerabilities that come into play when a young person turns 16 and they move into a more independent phase in their life, which is why the specifically targeted approach called GET THERE was created.

The GET THERE ground-breaking guidance gives local practitioners the practical guidance and tools to support young people aged 16+ through to adulthood and independence to build in safety and support in their community and reduce the risk of exploitation.  

The Worcestershire GET SAFE partnership is committed to tackling Child Criminal exploitation and the many forms of harm and abuse it takes.