Advice and Information for All

Watch out for children's welfare during lockdown

The Safeguarding Children Partnership is urging residents of Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland to be extra vigilant of children's welfare during lockdown and report any concerns they may have.

The 'Their door is shut. Ours is open' campaign has been launched following a fall in calls to local safeguarding teams since the introduction of social distancing measures.

However, the Leicester and Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Children Partnerships are concerned that, despite this fall, cases of child abuse may be on the rise, with fewer opportunities for it to be seen, reported and stopped.

Local councils, police and health agencies acknowledge there are additional pressures on families at this time and potentially this could lead to increased safeguarding concerns for children. The number of individuals children see and are able to talk to about their concerns is reduced during this time. Therefore, these organisations are asking everyone to be extra vigilant about safeguarding concerns for children in their community.

Residents are asked to look and listen out for signs that may indicate abuse:

• Very young children being left on their own
• Children looking dirty or not changing their clothes
• Children are withdrawn or anxious
• Aggressive or repeated shouting
• Sounds of hitting or banging and things being broken
• Children crying for long periods of time
• Relatives denied access to talk to children by phone or video call

Ways to report concerns can be found here: Report Concerns about a Child or Young Person

If a child is in immediate danger call 999 and ask for the police.

Please click here for further information