Railway Children and British Transport police step up safeguarding initiative

The Railway Children charity marked Missing Children’s Day on May 25 by calling on UK rail staff and passengers to help identify and protect vulnerable children on the network.

Joining forces with the British Transport Police, the charity launched its Safeguarding on Transport programme, focusing on five stations that recorded the highest number of child safeguarding incidents last year: Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds, Birmingham New Street, Glasgow Central and London Victoria.

BTP figures showed nearly 5,000 child safeguarding incidents were handled by the force, of which 1,620 (33%) were children who had run away or who were reported missing.

“Public transport can be a hot spot for young people who have run away from home and are at risk of exploitation,” said Andy McCullough, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at the charity.

“Often the perception can be that a young person seen loitering, for example, is a source of trouble, when in reality they could be overwhelmingly vulnerable and in need of help. The training we have developed with BTP will help railway station staff, including retail workers, identify children who before might have gone unnoticed.”.

So far, 119 BTP officers and 175 train and station staff have undertaken training to become Safeguarding on Transport champions. This is in addition to 1,600 rail staff receiving awarenessraising sessions. This will be extended to 32,000 officers and staff over the next five years.