This month has been the month for very special visiting! After our awards dinner in March, a number of young people were recognised for being Inspiring Voices. On the night, staff present accepted awards on behalf of the young people, but we promised as the NWG we would be making our way to the various places to meet young people personally. What a privilege it is to be able to acknowledge the amazing work undertaken by young people to raise awareness and change the landscape of how CSE is tackled. Due to the sensitivities around these awards we need to keep the details of winners confidential but hopefully this gives a flavour of our visits….

In early April, Cheryl and Lesley made there way down some windy roads in Shropshire to acknowledge the work undertaken by one of our Inspiring Voice runner’s up, which was for a young woman working with Physis. In the past 12 months she has been part of a group developing a national CSE Awareness Raising campaign, it was such a genuine privilege to hear her speak about the impact of being involved in seeing change for other young people. It was also encouraging to hear those working with her speak about the impact that participating has had on her own journey – very proud group of people all round! To top off a great visit we also had cream scones – always a winner!

Then during the second week in April, Lesley and Sheila were delighted to travel to Manchester to present the Inspiring Voices Awards won by two young ladies from the Barnardo’s Project in Manchester.  We received a warm welcome and joined several others in celebrating the young people’s achievement – which included tea & CAKE! Both young people have been instrumental in assisting to raise awareness of CSE in Manchester, specifically around work with police, as well as contributing to the development of the new educational resource ‘Real love rocks’, which helps young people explore healthy relationships. It was lovely to see the young people proudly receive their prizes and talk about the impact of the work they have been doing, cheered on by those supporting them. There was a real sense of young people and project staff working together in tackling CSE, very exciting to see!

We have one more group of runner’s up that we need to get out and meet, so watch this space for more details.

I think all that is left to say is a massive THANK YOU & WELL DONE to all the young people nominated for this years awards, we need to hear what you have to tell us to get things right for others. Keep up the good work and make sure to let us know what you have been doing in your part of the country, so we can spread the word for you!