Race to save the innocent children who are targeted by predators

M.E.N. VISITS TEAM AT FOREFRONT OF FIGHT TO KEEP KIDS SAFE FROM GROOMERS

- PAULBRITTON

IN THE unremarkable surroundings of Greenheys police station, south Manchester, the most painful stories are heard.

Stories of innocence and the predators who feed on it. And stories of everyday heroism, as a team of people, whose work goes unseen, race against the clock to rescue children from danger.

Children like Jenny, 15, whose vulnerability is painted in three moving sentences after concerns she was being groomed were raised.

"She wanted that connection. She wanted to be in love. She just wanted to be like a normal teenager." The teen was speaking to a specialist 'missing from home' worker someone who is tasked with being an older person Jenny can rely on, when so many other older people have failed her.

From their HQ near Hulme, members of the Complex Safeguarding Hub work on harrowing cases like Jenny's every day. They are doing some of the most important and delicate work in the city region. Protecting our children.

And the M.E.N. was invited in to attend the hub's daily briefing to gain a unique insight into the scale and depth of safeguarding work going on here. It's a window into a world that few ever see. But it's hugely important that the public know what's happening.

The high-profile Rochdale grooming case shone a light on the problem of young people being preyed on for sex on the streets of Greater Manchester. But the problem is far bigger than one case, one town, one particular group of men, or one ethnicity.

JENNY

At any one time there are dozens of children at risk in the Manchester city council area alone. Situations are complicated by the fact many believe they are in love with those who are grooming them for their own advantage.

Like Jenny, who was being groomed by men online and travelled with friends to meet up with them.