Award-winning author teams up with police to deliver crime prevention message to Whitby area school pupils

Due to a successful partnership in November 2021 and March 2022, at the request of North Yorkshire Police, Christina – who is also an honorary member of the NSPCC Council – has been working with police to educate children about the signs of being groomed, the dangers of drugs, county lines and the consequences of carrying knives.

Supported by officers from North Yorkshire Police, Christina visited schools in Whitby to talk to Year 6 groups about the research for her story No More Knives or County Lines.

Youngsters were shown the animation of the story and were invited to talk through scenarios with both Christina and the policing teams as well as working through class poems together which helps to measure the children’s understanding of the topic.

Each child was given a copy of the comic strip-style story to take home to discuss with parents and carers.

Christina said: “The power of story-telling and delivering messages through this medium should never be overlooked.

"This is the most rewarding work I have undertaken so far.

“Children are being coerced from a very young age, the more we can educate children and young people about the world around them, the better opportunity we have at steering them away before becoming trapped in a life that they could never have imagined.

"I’m a very small part in a large jigsaw but if I can help one child from becoming exploited, I will have achieved something.

"All the policing teams in North Yorkshire that I have worked in partnership with have been brilliant and share the same passion of protecting and safeguarding our children and young people.”

Det Supt Fran Naughton, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “Christina’s work has been so unique.

"I think most people think about County Lines as an issue that older children can be vulnerable to – but let’s not let it get to that stage.

"Christina’s target audience of primary school children means they are educated at a stage when they can understand the issues sufficiently and can prevent themselves being susceptible to exploitation in the future.

"The interactive nature of the sessions have made it enjoyable learning for kids and teachers alike.”