Action for Children launches new criminal exploitation services across Leeds, North Tyneside, Gateshead and London
More than 1,400 children and families to benefit from early intervention services
Action for Children is launching four new criminally exploited children (CEC) intervention services, expanding vital support for vulnerable children and young people in Leeds, North Tyneside, Gateshead and London, as part of its national effort to end the criminal exploitation of children. Tens of thousands of children and young people are thought to be at risk of exploitation across the UK.
The project will reach up to 1,440 children and families and is made possible by almost £5 million in funding over three years from The National Lottery Community Fund. The investment will also support the continuation of three existing Action for Children Criminal Exploitation Support services in Newcastle, Flintshire and Edinburgh.
The money comes from The UK Fund, one of The National Lottery Community Fund’s significant commitments as part of its 2023-2030 strategy, ‘It starts with community’ funding projects that help children and young people thrive – one of the funder’s four key missions.
Thanks to National Lottery players, Action for Children has received almost £5 million from The National Lottery Community Fund. The funding will be used to support children, young people and families at high risk of criminal exploitation across England, Scotland and Wales.
The programme's expanded footprint will include 25 new members of staff and four new bases across the UK, enabling support to reach more children and young people who are being co-erced into criminal activities such as dealing and transporting drugs or weapons (including county lines), growing cannabis, theft and burglary.
Central to the programme are peer mentors with lived experience of exploitation who will work directly with young people and help shape efforts to drive lasting change. The investment will fund 17 peer mentors, many of whom have relevant experiences themselves so serve as accessible role models for teenagers who have previously resisted other types of mainstream support.
The programme has been developed with input from local agencies and communities, with locations chosen due to high local needs where the services will have maximum impact. Working closely with police, local authorities, social work services and other partners, it will help identify children at risk earlier and provide specialist support to children and families who need it most.
Across the UK the expanded delivery will offer the chance for more detailed study with Cardiff University into specific elements of exploitation, including the risks facing looked after children and those on the edge of care, criminally exploited girls, as well as increasing understanding of how CEC can be linked to county lines drug dealing, sexual abuse and other forms of extra-familial harm.
Action for Children's Criminal Exploitation Support Service has been helping protect children and young people from exploitation since 2012, supporting more than 650 children and families across Scotland, Wales and England since 2020. Building on over a decade of specialist expertise, the programme places youth voice and trusted relationships at its heart, empowering young people to shape the support they receive and influence systems which affect their lives.
In March 2024, the Jay Review of the criminal exploitation of children , commissioned by Action for Children, found the system for dealing with it is not fit for purpose and made a series of recommendations. including investment in early intervention and prevention services for exploited young people alongside UK-wide learning about what works.
A 2024 evaluation by Cardiff University found that around half of the children and young people referred to Action for Children’s Criminal Exploitation Support Services were living in the most deprived areas of their communities.
In Action for Children’s “I don’t want to go down that road” report, which analysed serious safeguarding incident data from our services supporting children at risk of exploitation over a four-year period;
• 80% over the age of 16 were living in homeless/temporary accommodation
- 68% were not in education, employment, or training
• 59% were neurodiverse
• 59% were known to use substances.
Amanda* is a parent affected by this issue, with her son Ryan* having been criminally exploited over a number of years. He was subjected to serious violence and threats to his family. Despite this, when Amanda sought help, she felt dismissed and that her family was not given the support they needed. She says:
“Our happy family was changed forever. Eventually, we were scared for our own lives and that of our children and we didn’t understand what was going on or why our son was behaving so badly towards us and those in authority. We turned to the school, the police, doctors, social services and private psychiatrists but were never at any point were we told that our son could have been groomed or involved in what we now know as “County Lines”. It was only after we finally sought a private family law solicitors in London, that the term County Lines and Grooming were raised. He was then deemed a Victim of Modern Slavery, but despite this, we still received no support at all by authorities or services.
Young people like our son are being failed daily, because there are just not enough resources provided to prevent the grooming of young people into drugs and the criminal grooming world.”
On the difference it could have made to have a clear and dedicated support service for child criminal exploitation, Amanda says:
“We would have been able to understand why our son was acting this way, we could have prevented him getting a criminal record and given him the support and understanding that we needed to remove him from the perpetrators and lifestyle he had been sucked into. Instead, we were left on our own. For Ryan, if he’d had dedicated support, and a mentor who understood and connected with him, things could have been very different.”
Lesley Gordon, Director for Criminally Exploited Children at Action for Children, said
“This project will drive forward our national effort to end the criminal exploitation of children, creating safer communities and better futures for the young people most at risk. We simply would not be able to achieve this without the support of The National Lottery Community Fund and National Lottery players, whose investment is helping us reach more children and families with life-changing support.
We know the devastating impact exploitation can have. Young people tell us about being groomed, threatened and subjected to violence, leaving them feeling trapped and hopeless. One young person told us that without Action for Children's support, they believed they would either be in prison or dead.
No child should face that alone. Alongside our intensive support for children and families, we'll work with partners to strengthen local responses and help parents, schools and communities spot the signs of exploitation earlier. By working together, we can ensure more children are seen, heard and supported before harm escalates.”
*Names have been changed to protect identity.
