Charity teams up with bank to help exploited young people

Specialist child exploitation charity Safe and Sound has joined forces with HSBC as part of its transitions programme to help the young people and families they support move forward positively with their lives.

Safe and Sound supports children and young people across Derbyshire who are victims of or at risk of child exploitation.

This includes online grooming, sexual exploitation, coercion to run drugs through County Lines, trafficking, modern slavery and radicalisation.

It also supports the wider family and raise awareness of the dangers in local communities.

A key part of its support programmes is to help the 203 young people and 49 families its is currently working with re-build their lives, including returning to education, finding a job, as well as addressing financial and housing matters.

HSBC has already supported the charity with fundraising and sponsorship.
It is now planning a series of workshops to teach young people with life skills, such as budgeting and opening bank accounts, and to support struggling families with financial planning.

HSBC local director David Tomlinson said: “I first came across Safe and Sound while judging the collaboration category of the East Midlands Chamber’s Derbyshire Business Awards.

“I was very impressed with the breadth of their work and their passion to support young people and families in the local communities that we too serve.

“As well as supporting the charity’s fundraising efforts, we were keen to share our expertise in financial planning with young people as they transition into adulthood and with families who perhaps have been disengaged in the past with the services and support that banks can provide.

“Our commitment to local communities means we have extensive synergy with Safe and Sound’s work and I look forward to working more closely together in the coming weeks and months.”

Safe and Sound chief executive Tracy Harrison said: “Although any child is at risk of exploitation – regardless of their age, sex, background or family circumstances – financial pressures faced by the whole family can make them more vulnerable to perpetrators.

“As part of our transitions programme, we therefore put in place a wide range of support to help the whole family rebuild their lives and financial stability is an important part of that.

“We are, therefore, extremely grateful to HSBC for their commitment both to the charity and directly to the young people and families we support.”