Braintree District Community Safety Partnership launched its Spot It, Stop It campaign earlier in the year which is aiming to raise awareness and stop children and young people becoming victims of exploitation.

People working across a number of businesses in the district have aready been on training sessions delivered by the partnership, to increase their knowledge of exploitation including the signs to look out for and how to report concerns.

A training session for licensees and taxi drivers has now been organised on the November 15 at Braintree District Council.

Councillor Wendy Schmitt said: “The scheme has been working well and was nominated for a National Working Group award by The Essex Safeguarding Children Board in April 2018. We came runner up in the safer environments award category. We are very proud of this achievement which has relied on participation and engagement with local businesses and the positive role they can play. To date we have trained over 100 staff in the district. We are encouraging as many businesses as possible to sign up to the free scheme and they can contact the council for more details.”

The scheme is an excellent example of a whole approach to combat cases of sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation.

The success of the scheme in Braintree will now see it being rolled out across other areas, in Essex, such as Basildon.

The partnership want people to spot the signs early which could put a stop to a young person becoming involved in a situation that could become dangerous.

To find out more and to book a free training contact the Community Services team at Braintree District Council on 01376 552525.