Charlie’s story

Charlie* was referred to Railway Children after being reported missing and travelling on the rail network without a ticket.

Together with his friend, they were going to meet someone they’d met while gaming online. But they’d taken the wrong train and had been travelling up and down the network for many hours as it got later, darker, and colder.

As is often the case, after following through the referral and making contact with Charlie’s social worker, it became clear there was more to this referral
than met the eye.

Charlie goes to a SEMH school (social, emotional and mental health) and is believed to be autistic although he’s as yet undiagnosed.

Charlie’s social worker and school were concerned his neurodivergence might make him vulnerable to exploitation. So they asked us to complete a short, tailored piece of work with Charlie around exploitation, grooming and county lines.

Using stories to communicate issues

Railway Children worker, Phil, showed Charlie a short film which tells the story of a young person groomed into selling drugs, so they could talk about these issues.

“Sometimes I find using videos and other media a lot easier than sitting there talking to a young person,” says Phil.

“Charlie and I will watch part of the video and, when we get to a part I think is important, we’ll pause it and I’ll ask Charlie some questions – What did you notice there? What do you think about this? And we’d have a bit of a debate about it.”

Making the connection

One thing Charlie picked up on in the film is that one of the reasons it was so easy for the young person to be groomed was because he didn’t have a lot of money.

“He saw the connection between the boy in the video needing money for shoes and other stuff and how this made it easy for the person grooming him to get him on board,” explains Phil.

“He also noticed that the people targeting the boy were older than him. Although the grooming started off with someone from this young person’s peer group, the person who was grooming the boy and making him run drugs was a grown adult.”

The film also shows the boy being robbed while transporting money and drugs, only to reveal that it was the person who had groomed him who had set up the robbery.

“This led to a discussion about debt bondage,” continues Phil. “It was something Charlie had heard of but didn’t know a lot about. I was able to explain to him how one person can own another.”

Working together with Charlie’s school

Phil met with up with Charlie at school for an hour each week. Their sessions were at 9am, to ensure the rest of Charlie’s day wasn’t interrupted.

Except for one week when Phil turned up and Charlie wasn’t there…

“He had done so well during the week that he’d been picked to go on a special school trip,” continues Phil, “and school had forgotten to inform me.

But, given the circumstances, I really didn’t mind!”

* Name changed and model used to protect identity.