JohnA service with a base in Seacroft is launching a new game to help prevent county lines grooming and child criminal exploitation.
The city’s alcohol and drug service Forward Leeds is launching Nicked on 18 March 2025, which is National Child Exploitation Awareness Day.
Forward Leeds Young People’s Group Worker, Lewis Edwards, who designed the game, said: “The game helps young people recognise warning signs that they might be being groomed.
“Child criminal exploitation can be quite similar to domestic abuse in that people don’t believe it will happen to them. It’s often a positive quality like loyalty, bravery or a willingness to protect someone that enables a young person to be manipulated”.
Lewis first had the idea to develop the game following conversations with youth workers who wanted a way to explore the topic of child exploitation in a non-confrontational and open way. Lewis has been playing a version of the game with young people’s community groups since last year and the results have been encouraging.
Staff at Restore, an alternative education provision based at CATCH in Harehills, Leeds, have already been playing the game with pupils.
Restore Mentor Becky McHale said: “When we played the game the pupils all got engaged and it gave them an opportunity to speak about things they usually wouldn’t feel comfortable speaking about with teachers.
“For some of them they probably felt they were able to “show off” but in this context it was beneficial to the flow of the game and bringing up important risk factors that usually get hushed up.”
The game will be available for schools, youth groups and community organisations to borrow from the Public Health Resource Centre in Leeds or through Forward Leeds from 18 March 2025.
Forward Leeds has three main sites in Leeds:
- 3 Armley Court in Armley
- Kirkgate in the city centre
- Irford House in Seacroft
Forward Leeds also runs the Leeds centre for those in recovery from substance issues, 5 WAYS to Wellbeing at The Recovery Academy in Burley.
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