London Borough of Redbridge’s Post

Redbridge Council has launched an innovative and revolutionary new service, marking a significant step in understanding and responding to the risks vulnerable children and young people face outside their homes. The Family Help: Contextual Safeguarding Service is a collaborative effort that includes specialist exploitation practitioners, youth intervention specialists and social workers, is here to support children and young people in Redbridge. It will be there for them at the earliest opportunity when risks have been identified in their lives outside of the home, including concerns such as child criminal and sexual exploitation. In April 2024, Redbridge was selected to deliver the Families First for Children (FFC) Pathfinder programme. This national initiative aims to improve services to help more children stay with their families in safe and loving homes and protect vulnerable children from harm where needed. Redbridge Children’s Services has worked closely with the Department for Education to advance the pathfinder agenda. Launching the Contextual Safeguarding Service is the first significant milestone in the delivery phase, as Redbridge is revolutionising its services for children and families through FFC. Catherine Worboyes, Assistant Director for Child Protection, said “Our mission is to get children at risk of exploitation the right help as earliest as possible so that we can divert them away from criminality and negative influences. We can only do that with our local partners and community stakeholders. Safe spaces like Frenford Clubs have fully supported us in providing children and young people with opportunities and diversions. We hope the new ways of working will help us expand our reach so that we can achieve much more to help children and young people in Redbridge. Local community leader Irfan Shah, Chief Executive of Frenford Clubs, a community organisation dedicated to providing young people opportunities, facilities, and personal development, attended the launch event. Irfan said, “Over the past few years, Frenford Clubs has worked in strong partnership with the Council's Family Intervention Team, working hand in hand to make a profound difference in the lives of our most vulnerable children and young people, providing them with hope and a brighter future. Children's Social Care professionals work incredibly hard behind the scenes to improve the lives of some of our most vulnerable children and young people. It was heartwarming to see our hard work finally come to fruition at the launch of the Contextual Safeguarding Service. This significant milestone will greatly impact our community and is one we can all be proud of.” For further information, please visit the Redbridge Council website: https://lnkd.in/eUEw58Mu Sabina Samad, Emma Pattison, Sharon Springer, John Anthony, Adrian Loades, Gita Hargun