NWG invites you to a focused, half day webinar exploring effective approaches to support children/young people safely exit gang involvement

This session will highlight practical strategies, trauma‑informed practice, and multi‑agency collaboration to support long‑term, positive outcomes.

What You hear about

· Exit Strategies/ safety planning
· Complexities of Leaving
· Trauma Informed Care
· Education & Mentorship

Learning outcomes and objectives:

Understand Factors Influencing Gang Involvement & Exit:
Recognise the psychological, social, and environmental factors shaping gang affiliation and the barriers to leaving, including attachment and belonging. Explore how lived experience can enrich interventions and challenge harmful narratives.

Apply Trauma Informed, Child Centered Practice: Use evidence‑based, strengths‑focused techniques to build trust, reduce harm, enhance protection and support emotional wellbeing during the disengagement process.

Strengthen Multi Agency Collaboration: Work confidently with safeguarding partners—including families and community organisations—to create coordinated, safe exit pathways.

Develop Sustainable, Personalised Reintegration Plans: Create meaningful plans that address immediate safety & protections, long‑term resilience, education and employment goals, and ongoing monitoring to prevent re‑exploitation.

The target audience for the webinar. The session is likely to be helpful for those supporting children / young people who have been exploited or are at risk of exploitation, for those who wish to develop their understanding of neurodiverse presentations and to consider strategies which may support them.

• All safeguarding sector practitioners
• Staff in Educational settings
• Residential Workers
• Housing Officers
• Youth Service Workers
• Police Officers
• Social Workers
• Health Professionals
• Youth Justice Service professionals

Speaker blogs:

Power The Fight: Acts as a link between the community and policy-makers. They are excellent for professionals looking for culturally competent trauma-informed training and support for families bereaved by violence.

Missing People : SafeCall Missing People’s Exploitation Service is a confidential and anonymous helpline and support service for young people and family members that are affected by missing, county lines and criminal exploitation. The team also provides confidential support and advice for professionals in relation to their work with an exploited young person or family. Available in England and Wales by phone and text on 166 000, online chat or website referral form, the service is contactable between 10am-10pm every day.

Catch 22 – We design and deliver services that build resilience and aspiration in people of all ages and within communities across the UK. We work within the community, using an end-to-end approach to work with individuals, families, schools, custodial estates and communities to reduce gang involvement and its effects. The work targets and builds on service user strengths, to prevent them from becoming involved in gangs, and provides a range of interventions for gang-involved young people to support them to exit.

Abianda: A specialist charity working with young women and girls affected by criminal exploitation and violence. Abianda takes a gender informed, participatory approach rooted in lived experience, supporting young women to build independence and agency. Their work is underpinned by contextual safeguarding and an ecological understanding of harm, alongside evidence-informed training and cross-sector training to strengthen practice and drive systems.

Why Should I Attend/What Sectors Would Benefit From This Event?

Police and Justice

This must attend webinar is designed specifically for frontline criminal justice professionals, including police officers, youth justice workers, and probation staff working with children and young people affected by gang involvement. It provides practical, evidence informed insight into the drivers of exploitation, youth violence, and criminality, alongside the barriers young people face when attempting to exit gangs. The session supports confident, trauma informed decision making that balances enforcement responsibilities with safeguarding, risk management, and welfare duties. With a strong focus on effective disruption, safe exit pathways, and multi agency working, the webinar equips practitioners to reduce re-exploitation and reoffending, improve outcomes for vulnerable young people, and strengthen public and community safety.

Sports

This engaging webinar is designed for coaches, safeguarding leads, welfare officers, and youth workers working in children and young people’s sport. Recognising that sports environments are often trusted spaces where young people form strong relationships, the session equips practitioners to spot early warning signs of exploitation and/or gang involvement and respond appropriately. Using trauma informed, child centred approaches, it supports professionals to build positive, protective relationships that foster belonging, resilience, and safety. With a strong focus on partnership working, safe exit pathways, and long term wellbeing, the webinar reinforces the powerful role sport can play in protecting young people and helping them thrive both on and off the pitch.

Families and communities/ EDI/ Faith

Designed for family support workers, community practitioners, and voluntary/faith sector professionals, this impactful webinar highlights the critical role families and trusted community/faith networks play in protecting young people from gang involvement and exploitation. It strengthens confidence to understand family and community pressures, respond to trauma, and support safe disengagement through practical, relationship-based approaches. With a strong focus on empowering parents/care givers and working effectively across agencies, the session equips practitioners to reduce risk and support positive, lasting change within their communities.

Education

Designed for teachers, safeguarding leads, pastoral teams, and senior leaders, this engaging webinar equips education staff with the confidence to spot early signs of exploitation, gang involvement, and youth violence. It offers practical, trauma informed approaches that support pupil safety, wellbeing, and engagement, while strengthening effective multi agency responses. With a clear focus on safe exit pathways and long-term reintegration, the session supports education establishments to meet their safeguarding responsibilities and achieve positive, lasting outcomes for pupils—both inside and beyond the classroom

The session is likely to be helpful for those supporting children / young people who have been exploited or are at risk of exploitation, for those who wish to develop their understanding of neurodiverse presentations and to consider strategies which may support them.