Hidden Girls: BBC Three documentary on Girls & Gangs

BBC Three takes a look at the hidden world of girls in gangs and the extent to which teenage girls are being criminally and sexually exploited. Watch the documentary on iPlayer: Hidden Girls

Safeguarding Bedfordshire offers a range of learning opportunities to raise awareness and build practice when identifying and working with exploited young people. Places can be booked by logging in from our homepage.

Bedfordshire Against Exploitation Briefings *FREE* Various dates/ times available This free session will engage you to understand the multi-agency response to child exploitation in Bedfordshire, the tools to utilise when working with children and the response in Bedfordshire.  

‘Mind Your Language’ *FREE* Various dates/ times available This webinar enables us to discuss victim-blaming language and how we can accurately and sensitively record and report on victim experiences. The aim of this webinar is to share practice between agencies and to explore ways in which we can develop the language we use.

Teen Relationship Abuse 13th October OR 7th February (9.15am-4.30pm) This course aims to increase awareness, identification and knowledge of support processes of domestic abuse in teen relationships; promoting practitioner understanding of the issues linked to young people in early relationships, developing professional judgement and supportive interventions and making appropriate referrals. It is expected that attendees will already have a basic awareness of Domestic Abuse. Our Domestic Abuse eLearning must be completed if no prior learning has been undertaken. £75 per place- for funding and cancellation info please see T&C’s.

 ACT: Path to Protection *FREE8th November (9.30am-12.30pm) This FREE workshop is available to professionals responsible for investigating and managing cases when it has been identified that a child has been harmed online. It is highly recommended for designated safeguarding leads and those whose role requires them to provide direct support to children where online harm has occurred. FREE - for funding and cancellation info please see T&C’s.

 Criminal Exploitation: County Lines & Serious Youth Violence Tuesday 23rd November (9.30am-4pm) This workshop will provide practitioners with the opportunity to explore Criminal Exploitation, Serious Youth Violence and gang related issues in a multi-agency training environment. St Giles Trust used lived experience to help you understand the perspective of survivors and perpetrators. £75 per place- for funding and cancellation info please see T&C’s.

 Impact of Sexual Trauma Thursday 25th & Friday 26th November (0930-1230) This powerful seminar is essential to anyone working with survivors of sexual trauma; regardless of how old they were when the abuse occurred and how much time has elapsed since. Delivered by Zoe Lodrick, the seminar will offer an understanding of the impact of sexual trauma, the behaviour of offenders and how to safeguard people from them. £75 per place- for funding and cancellation info please see T&C’s.

 Child Sexual Exploitation: Practice Development 2nd December (0930-1600) This interactive practice development workshop is delivered by CYP First and offers the opportunity to consider sexual violence within exploitation and its impact on safeguarding practice. You will explore how to engage and support young people, at risk of, or who have been abused through CSE. The session covers disruption methods and using a contextual safeguarding model. Free CSE eLearning is recommended as pre-learning if you are not familiar with this topic. £75 per place- for funding and cancellation info please see T&C’s.

Contextual Safeguarding 26th January (9.30am-12.30pm) This training course will support practitioners to develop their understanding of contextual safeguarding and its application in practice. £37.50 per place- for funding and cancellation info please see T&C’s.

Working with Challenging Families: Practice Development Workshop 2nd March (9.30am-12.30pm) This half day workshop will help experienced practitioners from all agencies explore practical strategies for working with families who present particular challenges. You will explore the concept of ‘disguised compliance’ and consider your approach when working with uncertainty. £37.50 per place- for funding and cancellation info please see T&C’s.

Professional Challenge 2nd March (1.30- 4.30pm) This half day course will give participants greater confidence and skills to effectively challenge professionals and practice within their agency and others, in order to safeguard children and young people. It is open to practitioners and managers in voluntary, independent and statutory agencies who work predominantly with children, young people and/or their parents/carers and who could contribute to assessing, planning, intervening and evaluating the needs of a child and parenting capacity where there are safeguarding concerns. £37.50 per place- for funding and cancellation info please see T&C’s.