· The Children’s Referral Portal is now Live
· Updated Child Exploitation Risk Assessment
· National Child Exploitation Awareness Day
· Learning from Two Tragic Deaths in Shropshire Families - In Person at Guildhall and webinars
· Interactive Webinars – Learning from Case Reviews in Shropshire
· Understanding Intrafamilial Domestic Abuse Learning Events
· Domestic abuse related deaths: Homicide and Suicide Learning Events
· Domestic Abuse – Why don’t men come forward?
· The Voice of the Person
· Train the Trainers
· Compass Newsletter
· West Mercia Police - Economic Crime Unit - Monthly Bulletin January 2026
· Office of the Public Guardian webinar series
· Ketamine Information Webinar – Watch on Demand
· Fire Kills; Free Online Training with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service
· Early Help Newsletter
· Walk Safe
· TREES Newsletter
· PEGS Fully Funded Shropshire Training Sessions in CPA
· Joint Training
· Have you got something you want to share?
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The Children’s Referral Portal Live since 9th of February
The link to the new Children's Referral Portal has been live since the 9th February - you can find it here: Children's Referral Portal
This Portal will help to streamline communication between families, professionals and Shropshire Council. The public-facing portal allows users to securely submit key forms; this includes Early Help referrals and non-urgent Safeguarding concerns. Please note we are not proposing any changes at this time to the current pathway to targeted early help.
A Professional will need to register once to start using the Portal (not every time) and it is very straightforward to use.
The Portal will enable people to contact Shropshire Council at their convenience, not when our opening hours allow and they will reduce the need for paper-based communication and documentation, which can be prone to errors, delays, and losses.
This Portal will support the Compass and EHAST colleagues to ensure the correct information is gathered as efficiently and effectively as possible, therefore ensuring the decision making based on this info, will lead to suitable, timely help and support for children and young people.
Please note, that this has now replaced the MARF (Multi-Agency Referral Framework)
Further information, including a webinar on how to use the portal, will be sent out across the Partnership as soon as it is available - you can sign up for updates from the Partnership on the website
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Updated Child Exploitation Risk Assessment
There is also a new updated version of the Child Exploitation Risk Assessment. Please use this version going forwards when submitting a referral. The new updated version of the Child Exploitation Risk Assessment can be found here.
Our leaflets and a printable poster advertising our Child Exploitation Consultations for professionals are also for your reference. The leaflets can be found here.
Printable poster advertising the Child Exploitation Consultations for professionals.
Shropshire Council also has a Child Exploitation on their website: Child exploitation | Shropshire Council
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National Child Exploitation Awareness Day
The National Child Exploitation Awareness Day aims to highlight the issues surrounding CE; encouraging everyone to think, spot and speak out against abuse and adopt a zero tolerance to adults developing inappropriate relationships with children or children exploiting and abusing their peers. To mark this occasion, Shropshire Council’s TREES (Together Reducing & Ending Exploitation in Shropshire) Team are joining forces with We Are With You and Catch 22 STEPS to provide a day of free online seminars.
The event is open to all professionals via Microsoft Teams. It is hoped that attendees will be able to attend the full event, but if this isn’t possible you are welcome to join when available throughout the day. The schedule can be found here.
To be added to the Teams invite for the day, please email childexploitation@shropshire.gov.uk
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Learning from Two Tragic Deaths in Shropshire Families - In Person at Guildhall and Webinars
Register now to secure your place and be part of this important discussion on safeguarding practices.
This free, three-hour learning event is open to all frontline practitioners and managers who work with adults, children, and families.
In Person - Guildhall Shrewsbury
Monday 13th April 2026
09:30-12:30
To register, follow this link: Learning from Two Tragic Deaths in Shropshire Families - In Person at Guildhall
This training is also being presented as a webinar for those who cannot attend the in-person session – you can find the dates and book your place on the SSCP website
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Interactive Webinars – Learning from Case Reviews in Shropshire
People in Shropshire have died, and it’s important that we learn from these cases and understand what we can all do to prevent further serious harm and deaths.
You are invited to book onto one of our one hour practitioner learning events. There are three different one-hour webinars which will be repeated between January and April 2026, which are intended to increase your knowledge, understanding and how you can make a difference in your everyday practice.
You can click on the links to register and add the date to your calendar, or you can go through our Learning & Development page for information on the subjects of these learning events.
Please book on to these free learning events and share this update far and wide. We look forward to seeing you there.
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Understanding Intrafamilial Domestic Abuse Learning Events
These Learning Events are taking place on the following dates:
· Wednesday the 15th of April 2026 - 9:30am - 10:30am
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Domestic abuse related deaths: Homicide and Suicide Learning Events
These Learning Events are taking place on the following dates:
· Tuesday the 17th of March 2026 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm
· Wednesday the 22nd of April 2026 - 9:30am - 10:30am
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Domestic Abuse – Why don’t men come forward?
These Learning Events are taking place on the following dates:
· Tuesday the 24th of March 2026 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm
· Wednesday the 29th of April 2026 - 9:30am - 10:30am
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The Voice of the Person
The focus of these sessions will be hearing the voice of the person. The aim is to identify and share good practice when the adult or child's voice has been heard, and what we can do differently when we haven’t heard their voices.
These Learning Events are taking place on the following dates:
· Monday the 23rd of March 2026 - 10:00am - 11.30am
· Tuesday the 31st of March 2026 7:00pm - 8.30pm
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Train the Trainers
Train the trainers is a 2-day course which will be held on Wednesdays 3rd and 17th of June 2026, this will enable participants to deliver Raising Awareness in Safeguarding and Protection Children (3 hour) multiagency training to all staff within their own organisation and agencies.
Book onto Day 1 Train the Trainers - 3rd June 2026
Book onto Day 2 Train the Trainers - 17th June 2026
All training resources and handouts are online and are provided by Shropshire Safeguarding Community Partnership Learning and Development Co-ordinator.Both days must be booked on and attended at Fitzroy academy, Cruckton, Shrewsbury SY5 8PR.This is an in-person course. Once registered on the “webinar” your details will be saved for the course organiser, and you will have the option to add the date to your calendar. You can find more information on the SSCP website.
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Compass Newsletter
The latest Compass Newsletter is now available – you can find it on the SSCP website.
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West Mercia Police - Economic Crime Unit - Monthly Bulletin January 2026
West Mercia Police have released the January 2026 edition of the Fraud & Scam Bulletin. Please take a moment to share it with colleagues and contacts as appropriate so that West Mercia Police can continue to offer as much advice to protect the public from fraudsters online and on the phone.
You can find it on the SSCP website
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Office of the Public Guardian webinar series
We’re writing to tell you about a webinar series that the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is holding this spring. The series is designed to support professionals in the health and social care sector to better understand:
· OPG’s role and responsibilities
· Attorneys, deputies and decision-making under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005
· Managing concerns about attorneys and deputies.
The webinars will take place from 12.30 to 13:30 on the 15th of April and the 20th of May.
Further details about the webinars and how to register can be found at OPG webinar series | Eventbrite
We’d love it if you could share the details of OPG’s webinar series with your network or across your organisation to help us reach a wide audience.
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Ketamine Information Webinar – Watch on Demand
If you missed the recent Ketamine Information Webinar, delivered by Shropshire Recovery Partnership, you can now catch up at a time that suits you by using this link.
With ketamine related referrals increasing both locally and nationally, it’s more important than ever that professionals across Shropshire feel confident, informed, and equipped to respond effectively.
This webinar has been designed to support exactly that, covering:
· What ketamine is
· How and why people use it
· Key health risks and complications
· Impact on individuals and services
· Treatment pathways and options
Led by Bethaney Davies - Substance Misuse Nurse at WithYou, this session offers clear, accessible information for anyone who works with or could encounter people using ketamine in their professional role.
A big thank you to Bethaney and WithYou for sharing their expertise and helping us strengthen professional knowledge across Shropshire.
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Fire Kills; Free Online Training with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service
‘The best way to avoid fire deaths is to prevent house fires by referring to Shropshire Fire and Rescue’
Not just the words of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service but advice given by Shropshire Safeguarding Community Partnership in their review following a series of fire deaths in 2022.
Whilst fire deaths in Shropshire are thankfully a rare occurrence, one fire death is one too many. By attending one of the free 45 minute Fire Kills online training sessions planned for various dates and times in March, you can play your part in helping to prevent any further fire deaths in the county.
Who is the training for?
The online training is intended for professionals, voluntary sector workers, and individuals who support vulnerable people.
What the training will cover?
The training will help to raise awareness of the common risk factors identified when analysing fatal fires in Shropshire. Attendees will also be advised on how they can make accurate and timely referrals into the service and access future face to face training opportunities.
Sessions will be held on:
· Monday 16th March, 10am-10.45am
· Tuesday 17th March, 2pm-2.45pm
· Friday 20th March, 10am-10.45am
You can book your place by following this link.
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Early Help Newsletter
For the latest edition of the Early Help Newsletter, please follow this link: Early Help Newsletter February 2026
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Walk Safe
Funding has been obtained for an independent app – Walk Safe. It is supported by several other councils and police forces across the UK and aims to provide an additional layer of guardianship across the night time economy for members of the public.
The app has a map where people can see which venues have had safety training and what that training is. For example, Ask for Angela, Best Bar None or LSAVI. The app also has a function where people can report (non crime) concerns, for example, a broken street lamp or loitering so agencies can be aware of what is making people feel unsafe in their community. It also has a function for people to let loved ones know they are on their way home and an alert of they do not reach their destination.
The app is free to use for members of the public.
You can find more information on the Walk Safe website. You can also download the app here
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TREES Newsletter
The latest TREES (Together Reducing and Ending Exploitation in Shropshire) newsletter is now on the SSCP website – you can find it on the Tackling Exploitation page.
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PEGS Fully Funded Shropshire Training Session in Child-to-Parent Abuse
PEGS are delivering a free fully funded half-day session on Monday the 16th of March focused on Understanding Child-to-Parent Abuse at the Guildhall in Shrewsbury. The session starts at 9.30am and will finish at 12.30pm. There are still spaces available to book via Eventbrite.
The link to book onto this session is here.
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Joint Training
The following courses have been announced by Joint Training – follow the links below for more information and to book your place:
· Mental Capacity Act (MCA) Awareness
· Domestic Abuse and the impact on children and young people
· Professional Curiosity – Putting it into practice
· Mental Health First Aid refresher
· Raising Awareness in Safeguarding Children and Young People
· Safeguarding Adult Awareness
· Suicide First Aid: Understanding Suicide Intervention
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Have you got something you want to share?
If there is anything that you would like included the Business Unit newsletter going forward, or something you think should be linked to or shared on the website, then please let us know by e-mailing SSCPBusinessunit@shropshire.gov.uk and please include “Newsletter” or “Website” in the subject of the e-mail.
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