Not In Our Community
How do we help children and young people protect each other from grooming and child exploitation?
In mid-2014 the news filled with terrible revelations that child grooming gangs were abusing the nation’s children on a shocking scale. Two idealists, the High Sherriff of the East Riding of Yorkshire, and the Chief Executive of NHS Hull CCG, called upon Eski to work directly with young people, including survivors of sexual exploitation, to co-produce a prevention and early intervention initiative directly to those at risk.
What began as a 5-month project has grown over the past ten years, evolving into an internationally recognised campaign that has become the “gold standard” for education and behaviour change for an expanded range of community safety issues.
By exploring insights from victim experiences and the ways in which young people learn and engage with social media, we formed an understanding how young people can be empowered to protect each other (and therefore have the knowledge to protect themselves). Young people steered us to create the brand ‘Not in Our Community’ through which they, and trusted adults, take a stand against groomers and perpetrators of all kinds.
Supported by local charities, the police, community safety teams, young volunteers, and brave survivors, ‘Not In Our Community’ combined live events, innovative social media campaigns, and filmmaking based on intelligence and real-life experiences from people who want to share their painful stories in the hopes that it can help someone else.
The initiative expanded to cover the growing problem of child criminal exploitation including county lines. Eski co-produced films with young people and professionals, including “Alfie’s Story” and “Ryan’s Story”, which have become leading national resources.
In 2024, Eski was commissioned by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside, to broaden the educational resources and interventions to help keep children and young people safe from hate, violence and weapons, anti-social behaviour, digital risks, violence against women and girls, substance misuse, and unsafe relationships.
Winner of the “Best Public Sector Campaign” and “Grand Prix” at the Drum International Content Awards, and “Best Use of Social Media” at the Association of Healthcare Communications and Marketing National Awards.
