Aimed at young people in secure settings, a series of seven short films highlight the issues of child exploitation and human trafficking.  

They draw upon the real-life experiences of individuals who have found themselves in the criminal justice system. Many have experience of being groomed by manipulative perpetrators. 

The award-winning charity worked with children in secure units and inmates of Polmont Young Offenders Institution, developing their stories into scripts for a project called You Are Not Alone.  

Films were then directed by care-experienced young people from Renfrewshire and the results are now available for view on YouTube as well as via the charity’s education platform, where they are accompanied by lesson plans. 

Lynne Barrie, procurator fiscal for Lothian and Borders, supported the project funding process and was involved in the steering group for this latest You Are Not Alone project, having identified a need for an educational resource aimed specifically at young people in secure settings. 

She said: “We were delighted to contribute to this project by I Am Me Scotland, which benefits from the valuable input of young people with first-hand experience. Children and young people can be targets for criminals who seek to recruit, manipulate, and exploit them, for their own gain.   

“This may involve perpetrators controlling the child or young person and coercing them into committing crime. COPFS is committed to tackling criminal exploitation, in all its forms, to protect vulnerable children and young people and prevent them being drawn into serious criminality. 

“These educational resources will be important in raising awareness, ensuring children and young people in secure settings know how to recognise the signs of criminal exploitation, and how to seek help if necessary.” 

Charity founder Carol Burt-Wilson said: “We had initially worked on exploitation resources for mainstream school settings S1-S3 stages. After discussions with Lynne Barrie it was identified that resources could be developed to support awareness raising within secure settings.   

“Funding was secured from Foundation Scotland which enabled us to begin working with young people at Polmont YOI in March last year.  We worked with a group of young males and a group of adult females, to design, develop and produce the resources, which included script writing, based on real life experiences. 

“We also worked with young people from St Marys Kenmure and Good Shepherd to discuss the script content and the plans for the resource, aiming to build something accessible, engaging, inclusive and relevant. 

“After one of the Polmont sessions, one of the young men went back to his cell and wrote his story. He wanted to use it to help make a difference to other young people. One of the adult females, who had been involved in the development of Liv’s story, said if her story helped change one person’s life, it had done its job.” 

The films and their accompanying lessons will be used as part of rehabilitation work in Polmont. They will also be available for mainstream secondary school pupils.