Representatives from Vernon Building Society visited Beacon Counselling earlier this month to see how sponsorship from its Jubilee Fund has been used to operate the Liberty Project – a new service that provides support to young victims of organised sexual exploitation in the Stockport area.
Caption: From left-to-right: James Harper (General Manager at Beacon Counselling), Lindsay Birchall (Appointment Administrator at Beacon Counselling), Karen Corbishley (Representative of Vernon Building Society) and April Manderson (Children’s Services Manager at Beacon Counselling)
Funded in-part by Stockport MBC, the project is currently in the midst of a twelve-month pilot programme that launched in November 2014. The Liberty Project has already reached over 30 young people.
James Harper, General Manager at Beacon Counselling said:
“Sexual exploitation is an issue that affects young people right across the board, from care homes to family homes, girls and boys. The Liberty Project offers specialised counselling, trauma therapy and family counselling that helps victims of sexual exploitation to successfully handle any difficulties they may be experiencing”.
The project also seeks to both prevent and grow awareness of sexual exploitation by educating youth workers about the warning signs indicative of a young person at risk:
“A young person who is regularly going missing for periods of time, particularly at night, or developing sexualised behaviours that are unusual for their age can both be signs of grooming or sexual exploitation” says James.
The popularity and accessibility of social media is presenting Beacon Counselling with further challenges, “whilst social media provides further opportunity for social interaction, it also presents new risks and increases the opportunity for offenders to target vulnerable young people” continued James, “sexting’ is another trend that is increasingly being used as a medium for grooming”.
The twelve-month pilot scheme ends in November and further funding will be required to ensure its continuity for a second year. Following Beacon Counselling’s success in the previous year, they will again apply to receive funding from Vernon Building Society’s Jubilee Fund, which is now open for applications.
For updates on the Jubilee Fund, follow @VernonStockport on Twitter or visit thevernon.co.uk/.
For more information about Beacon Counselling, visit www.beacon-counselling.org.uk