This quarter’s Forum will highlight and discuss the topic of ‘Fairgrounds, Piers and Attractions’. It will not surprise you to know that places such as these are a magnet to children, but you will be shocked to know that such places and spaces are largely unregulated and have an absence of safeguards in respect of their transient and permanent workforce.  

We will be inviting two speakers from our recently formed focus group, to share their experiences of having investigated the exploitation/abuse of children by individuals, who were known to be a danger to children and were at liberty to target, groom and abuse them. Individuals are ‘protected by a cloak of immunity’ due to the lack of checks and scrutiny by local authorities, owners and managers of such places/establishments.  

The forum will also highlight how this ‘topic’ is forming part of the current review of our ‘Say Something, See Something’ campaign which was developed in parallel with ‘Operation Makesafe’. Funfairs, piers and attractions are ‘Places and Spaces’ that require vigilance and governance to safeguard children by ensuring they form part of any local disruption and interruption of exploitation plan.     

The Forum invites you to use this as a platform and an opportunity to learn about the action being developed to increase safety for children. We also invite you to share your experiences, where safeguarding either was or could have been more effective. 

Safeguarding children and young adults is everyone’s business and therefore the forum will:  

1. Highlight how effective partnership working is and was crucial, in both cases. 

2. Invite our network members to share their experiences of similar situations 

3. Ask how in collaboration, we can plug this gap and reduce the number of children from being exploited in the future.       

(Names of speakers and Independent Chair to be confirmed/announced shortly)