YOUNG people, parents and staff heard presentations by a survivor of child sexual exploitation and her father at an event in Blackburn to mark national child sexual exploitation awareness day.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The event at Pleckgate High School also marked the 10th anniversary of Engage, the multi agency team established to tackle child sexual exploitation in Blackburn with Darwen.

It first launched as a police operation in 2005 and subsequently became a broader partnership with the council and Barnardo’s, overseen by the Local Safeguarding Children Board, in 2008.

Lancashire Police also marked the day with training on child sexual exploitation and early warning signs for frontline police officers.

Engage works to identify and support children and young people at risk of sexual exploitation and their families, raise awareness of child sexual exploitation and bring offenders to justice.

Nancy Palmer, Independent Chair of Blackburn with Darwen Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), said: “We are extremely fortunate in this area to have our multi agency Engage team working to tackle child sexual exploitation, but we are never complacent.

“On national Child Sexual Exploitation awareness day we wanted to reflect on what has been achieved and also remind people that safeguarding children is everyone’s business.”