As part of our prevention work in schools, we have a bespoke service that we offer to young people with often complex learning difficulties who find the content of our Sexual Violence Prevention Workshops within a mainstream setting difficult.

We ensure the workshops are informative, fun, interactive, creative and we build close relationships with the young people to help their learning. We offer a safe space for young people to discuss topics and issues. We are seen not as teachers, but as someone out with the school they can trust.

We have designed a wide range of topics such as emotions and feelings, relationships, internet safety, consent and safe and unsafe touch. We work closely with children's support plans to identify areas of focus regarding personal safety, give regular feedback on the sessions and use a range of materials to suit the young person's individual needs - often, we handmake these materials ourselves.

We know that children with additional support needs are more vulnerable to abuse and might be less able to speak out about it. This might be because:

• they have additional communication needs.
• they do not understand what is happening to them.
• they may require intimate care.
• They are isolated from others and dependent on adults.

As a result, children with additional support needs may not know how to recognise abuse or how to tell someone it is happening to them. This is what our bespoke service works towards - giving young people the language and understanding to be able to tell someone should they experience abuse.