Hillingdon Council up for award for support for vulnerable children

by SKYE WILLIAMS

Hillingdon Council could take home an award after making the shortlist for 'The Biggest Impact'' following its nomination for its efforts to protect vulnerable children.

The council has recently been nominated to take this win at the National Children and Young People's Awards, for its approach to the protection of young people and children from acts of exploitation.

This news comes before 'National Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day' which will take place tomorrow, on the 18th of March 2021.

The council has been nominated on account of its AXIS project, which aims to collect information from the Hillingdon community about underrepresented children who may be exposed to exploitation.

From October 2017 to January this year, approximately 314 local children have been supported by Hillingdon's project, with 35 of these children having taken part in intervention work on child sexual exploitation.

Hillingdon Council shared the news to their followers on Twitter along with a picture featuring Emily Fletcher, Hillingdon Council's AXIS Youth Prevention Officer and two others.

The Youth Prevention Officer opened up about the nomination and said: "The AXIS team is thrilled to be nominated for an award and we hope it encourages other authorities to embed some of our practices.

"We support children and young people at the earliest stage, with the aim to prevent escalation into social care or the council's youth justice service."