Derbyshire’s specialist child exploitation charity, Safe and Sound, has teamed up with Derby-based visual marketing agency, Briight, to document the charity’s journey of creating their new city centre premises.
Safe and Sound has secured the purchase of 8 Bold Lane, a former restaurant in Derby’s Cathedral Quarter. This will enable the specialist team to support more young people and families and provide a broader range of services. The charity will also make space available for other charities and organisations to deliver their services. The team at Briight will be documenting the progress throughout the refurbishment journey– culminating in the planned official opening in January 2025.
The first chapter in the story has just been released with Safe and Sound CEO Tracy Harrison taking the camera on a tour of the building. Mrs Harrison said: “We are incredibly grateful to the team at Briight for their support in this. Showcasing the refurbishment journey will particularly engage and resonate with young people, families and other charities who will make use of these facilities and allow us to showcase the facilities that will be made available for their use.
“It will also help us to better communicate with the funders and the many generous individuals, companies and organisations who have pledged money and other pro bono support.” Briight’s director Rob Dawes continued: “It’s vitally important for any organisation to seize every opportunity to capture great visual content to share and grow their audiences. Especially when it’s such a key moment in their history, like this is.
“As an agency with a strong sense of community and a mission to inspire the people of Derby, we are delighted to be using our expertise to help such a worthwhile charity who are working hard to protect young people and their families across Derbyshire from those looking to exploit them and do them harm – both online and in person. “It was fascinating seeing behind the scenes in these early days of the refurbishment project, and we look forward to returning regularly to capture video updates so that everyone can see how their fundraising and support is translating into city centre facilities that will help so many local people.”
Safe and Sound works with children as young as seven, young people and their families across Derbyshire whose lives have been affected by child exploitation including online grooming, sexual exploitation, County Lines, trafficking, modern slavery and radicalisation. Thanks to £250,000 funding from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Community Ownership Fund, plans are now being drawn up for the restoration and refurbishment work required to make the three-storey building fit for purpose.
The vision is to provide safe and welcoming ground-floor space for a community hub and a wide range of activities delivered by both Safe and Sound and other youth and family- focused organisations including YMCA, Derby County Community Trust and Umbrella.
The flexibility of the space will enable activities and therapies to be expanded ranging from arts and crafts and music to drama and sport. The other two floors will include space for 121 and group support, meetings and workshops as well as office accommodation for Safe and Sound’s team and volunteers who are based there.
Mrs Harrison concluded: “Demand for our services continues to grow – reflecting the reality that any child, anywhere – regardless of their age, sex or family background – is at risk of child exploitation. “Our role is to help young people and their families who have been victims of or at risk of child exploitation move forward positively with their lives so having a dedicated building to base our expanding programme of activities, support and therapies is vital.”
For more information about Safe and Sound, the work it does and how to support the charity, please visit www.safeandsoundgroup.org.uk