Barnardo’s specialist team almost ready

A £3.1 million CSE prevention project will be up and running in the new year, the kids charity leading it says.

Barnardo’s will assemble a team of 15 specialists to deliver more support to victims and children at risk in Rotherham.

A spokesman said: “We are currently recruiting those workers and building the team, with the aim for the new service to be up and running in the new year.”

The model is like Risky Business, the youth project praised in the Jay report but axed by Rotherham Borough Council in 2011.

The new service is being funded by Rotherham Borough Council, the KPMG Foundation, Barnardo’s and the Department for Education.

Council commissioner Malcolm Newsam said the charity had assembled a strong team and added: “It will supply a significant missing piece of the jigsaw.”