Manufacturer announces backing for child exploitation charity

Medical device manufacturer Pennine Healthcare has announced it has chosen to raise funds this year for specialist child exploitation charity Safe and Sound.

Pennine Healthcare is one of the UK’s leading, employee owned, medical device manufacturers – marketing and distributing products in over 50 countries worldwide and employing around 180 people at purpose-built premises on London Road.

Staff choose a charity of the year and have a packed programme of events in the coming 12 months, from a sporting challenge to smaller events to bring people together.

Dan Wilson, head of marketing and communications at Pennine Healthcare, said: “Our purpose as a business is to protect life, empower colleagues and enrich communities.

“Safe and Sound were nominated by various colleagues and, when we researched the charity, it was evident that they too share our purpose and values and were therefore the perfect fit for this year’s charity fundraising efforts.

“We became an employee-owned trust in 2021, which further strengthened our colleague’s input within the business, and we know the fantastic work that Safe and Sound does across Derbyshire to protect and support young people and their families whose lives have been affected by child exploitation.

“We hope to raise a good amount of money throughout this year and look forward to learning more about the work of the charity and the issues facing children and young people in our local communities in the coming months.”

Tracy Harrison is chief executive of Safe and Sound, which works with hundreds of children a year from as young as seven, young people and their families whose lives have been affected by online grooming, child sexual exploitation, County Lines, trafficking, modern slavery and radicalisation.

She said: “Any child, regardless of their age, sex, family or cultural background, is at risk of grooming and exploitation both online and in person.

“Referrals for our specialist one-to-one and group support increases every year, and we are only able to cope with rising demand through the generosity of individuals, groups and businesses such as Pennine Healthcare.

“We are extremely grateful for this commitment for the coming year and, as our core focus is to build relationships, I particularly welcome the opportunity to raise awareness across the company of the dangers facing young people and what we can all do to mitigate some of those risks for our own families.”