An inspirational leader dedicated to supporting youngsters affected by exploitation

Next month, Tracy Harrison, chief executive of Safe and Sound – a charity which helps children and young people affected by exploitation – will retire from her role after seven years at the helm. The former Derbyshire Police Superintendent leaves behind an organisation that has grown significantly in its reach, services and presence. Here, in her own words, Tracy reflects on her legacy.

Hi Tracy. Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself and your organisation.

I live in Derby with my husband of over 30 years. We have two grown up children – one who lives in London and one local in Derby.

I love tennis and play three times a week with fellow Bondholder Sarah Loates.

I also love Derby County and have just bought a season ticket as my first retirement treat!

Formed in 2002, Safe and Sound is a specialist Derbyshire charity that protects and supports children, young people and families whose lives have been affected by exploitation.

We were initially established to tackle child sexual exploitation, from the coercion of young people into sharing indecent images online to the grooming and abuse of children.

This continues to be a devastating form of child abuse and remains a core part of our work.

Over time, our work has grown in response to what children, families and communities are experiencing.

We now support young people affected by sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation, radicalisation, county lines, online harm, unsafe relationships, coercion, violence and the trauma that sits around all of this.

Child exploitation has a devastating impact on the individual child or young person.

We work within government policy and national programmes to empower survivors of exploitation to have a voice.

We have incorporated The Enthusiasm Trust charity into Safe and Sound and have a youth centre and provision in Osmaston, Derby together with their schools mentoring programme.

We now have our forever Melbourne House in Derby city centre to meet the increasing demand for our services.

What was your career path before joining Safe and Sound, and why did you decide to join the charity?

I retired from Derbyshire Constabulary in February 2019. I was 51 years old. I was too young to retire. I was a trustee at Umbrella and Derby County Community Trust.

I had challenging teenage years and had left home at 17. Luckily there were some lovely people who looked out for me and supported me to achieve my goal of being a police officer and supporting me to live independently.

I also helped bring up three children when I was 26 who lost both parents and helped with my nephews when I was 29 when my sister passed away. My house at weekend was like The Waltons!

My life was/is all about children, so my next chapter was going to help children – it was going to be with a local grass roots charity.

I had a coffee with a trustee at Safe and Sound about volunteering. They had unsuccessfully been looking for a new CEO – and the rest is history!

Tell us in a bit more detail what your organisation does and how it has evolved.

Our work focuses on awareness, prevention, support and recovery.

Within these areas, we provide the following services:

One-to-One support with a dedicated support worker with specialist support for inclusive communities, domestic abuse and young people with special education needs.

Family Support – support for the wider family who have been affected by exploitation with a dedicated, non-statutory worker.

Education sessions in schools or colleges with a particular focus on children with SEND and an alternative school provision and life skills mentoring programme for those at risk.

Youth work – our youth work team introduces young people to positive activities like sport, art or music to build confidence and resilience to risk.

ISVA (independent sexual violence advisor) – to help young people and families through court processes.

Family Group Conferencing – we deliver a process through which the child’s extended family create their own plan of how they will all come together to look after the child.

Outreach teams who work across the city and county reaching children, particularly in identified hotspots.

Therapeutic intervention – expressive art therapy for young people and families.

Youth voice participation and parents as partners.

When I started in May 2019, we had a team of eight, and we supported 100 young people that year.

We now have a team of 30 and a similar number of volunteers.

During 2025-26, we supported 320 children and young people aged 8-18 / 25 for care leavers or young people with SEND affected by child exploitation through direct face to face specialist one-to-one support.

We are not restricted to a fixed number of sessions and walk alongside young people and families for as long as support is needed.

Describe the journey a child (and their family) takes once contact with Safe and Sound has been made.

We get referrals from police, social care, schools other community groups and from parents ringing up to refer themselves.

Once received, referrals are assessed by our experienced case manager and allocated according to risk and needs to the most appropriate staff member.

We work in partnership throughout the journey of the young person supporting a joined-up service.

Our structured approach is very much child centred. Our support is typically weekly at a place comfortable for each child/care leaver.

We see young people in schools, at home, in a local identified safe space or in the local community.

Support is not timebound but determined by individual need and reviewed regularly through ongoing assessment of risk, vulnerability, progress and outcomes.

Through our one-to-one work we cover positive sessions, including building healthy relationships, strengthening protective factors gaining confidence etc.

We support our young people, build on their strengths, develop their skills, networks and resilience to thrive independently.

Our average support for any young person is six to nine months.

Through recovery young people can access our activities at Osmaston and Melbourne house community hubs and have support through creative arts therapy. We also work with other charities to get them involved in sport music or art.

Though our youth voice groups we enable our young people to have a voice, in our learning, in our service provision and in our feedback to other partner agencies empowers our young people.

Recognising that exploitation impacts the whole family, Safe and Sound offers holistic support to parents, carers and siblings alongside our direct work with children and young people.

We see parents and carers as partners in safeguarding. Our parent support group continues to provide a safe, trusted space where families can talk honestly, support one another and build confidence.

Increasingly, parents are also using their lived experience to influence strategic partners and help shape better responses to exploitation across the city and county.

Exploitation is a trauma for everyone involved, particularly parents and carers who are trying to keep their child safe while managing fear, guilt, statutory processes, disruption at home and the impact on siblings.

Our family workers help parents and carers navigate services, understand risk, build resilience and strengthen relationships within the home.

Families often tell us that their Safe and Sound worker is the only person they can speak to openly about what is happening and how it is affecting them.

This support can be transformative, helping families feel less isolated, more informed and better able to move forward together.

Is it true that instances of child exploitation are continuing to rise? If so, why is this happening?

Child exploitation is a greater risk than ever largely because of the internet.

It can happen to any child anywhere at any time. People think it can’t happen to their child but sadly it can.

Approximately half the children we support have SEND. How can that be right that children with disabilities are more likely to be targeted and groomed!

We are supporting younger children and young people – they have access to phones and tech so much earlier.

We work and support children for longer- there is no quick fix!

Did the Covid lockdowns impact the numbers?

Covid definitely led to an increase in exploitation. The National Crime Agency said criminals exploited the pandemic via digital platforms and openly “boasted” or “bragged” within their encrypted and online networks about opportunities for them.

This included sexual exploitation.

For us we saw children and young people alone and isolated spending more time in the online space.

We worked all the way through Covid – the team were amazing.

We saw an increase year on year from 2019. Some of that was an increase in demand, some was that we were doing more earlier intervention work – getting in to support more young people earlier – and some of it was we got more people talking about exploitation and raising awareness.

We would previously get a parent ringing us directly once a month. We now get parents ringing every week. Sad, but positive that we can help.

Is there anything society can do to prevent exploitation from happening?

We need better legislation and then more policing of legislation. Tech companies need to take more responsibility and put funding into prevention and awareness.

The age of children we support is getting younger – eight, nine, 10-year-olds with technology and access to the internet space.

If a child was going to the park we would ask where are you going? Who are you with? What are you going to do?

We need to have those daily conversations with children and young people spending time in the online world.

During your tenure, how has Safe and Sound grown its range of services?

Hugely. From at the lowest six staff to 30, eight to 30-plus volunteers and trustees, plus a great group of ambassadors helping spread awareness, fundraising and supporting our work.

Alongside the growth of our one-to-one support for children and families we do outreach in the community four evenings a week engaging with young people – over 3,000 engagements last year.

We do prevention group work in schools and at our hubs reaching hundreds of young people.

We raise awareness with schools, businesses, community groups and professionals. We reached over 7,000 last year alone.

We work so much in partnership through the youth and family alliances in the city, working together to collective support more children and families.

One of my rewarding parts is improving safeguarding across the city and county, supporting charities and businesses through safeguarding reviews and support.

In recent years you have opened Melbourne House and the Osmaston Community Hub. Tell us about the work that went into these projects – and the impact they are now having.

Revitalising Osmaston Community Hub, in Cotton Lane, has allowed Safe and Sound to significantly expand youth provision in one of Derby’s most deprived neighbourhoods.

The hub gives young people a consistent, trusted space where they can feel safe, be heard and connect with positive opportunities.

We have transformed the building into a vibrant, youth-led hub with a weekly programme shaped around what young people tell us they want and need.

Every part of the delivery is rooted in positive relationships, youth voice and early intervention.

The hub is not just a place for activities; it is a place where young people can build trust with adults, develop friendships, access support and spend time somewhere safe.

Our weekly programme now includes Boys’ Club, Girls’ Group, Graffiti, Homework Club, Girls’ Box fit, Boys’ Box fit and Youth Club sessions.

Cotton Lane has become an important part of our early intervention and prevention work.

It offers young people positive activities, trusted relationships, practical support and somewhere they can belong.

For many young people, this consistency is what makes the difference: a safe place to go, adults who notice when something is wrong, and opportunities that help them build confidence, friendships and hope for the future.

Through our youth mentoring, BETA programme and alternative provision work, Safe and Sound supports young people who may be struggling with education, confidence, relationships or wider risks in their lives.

Our tailored, strengths-based approach provides trusted one-to-one support, positive activities and practical guidance, helping young people to re-engage with learning, build resilience, develop new skills and make safer, more positive choices for their future.

One of the most significant developments last year was the opening of Melbourne House, our new city centre hub at 8 Bold Lane.

It was my/our dream to have a safe city centre base. With government grants, fundraising and pro bono support we own it and have renovated it be our forever home.

This move marked a major milestone for Safe and Sound, giving us a permanent, welcoming and purpose-designed space in the heart of Derby.

The building provides more room for one-to-one support, therapeutic work, family sessions, activities and partnership meetings, helping us respond to the growing complexity and volume of need across the city and county.

The transformation of Melbourne House was only possible because of the extraordinary support of our partners.

From professional expertise and project management to construction, design, funding, practical help and community encouragement, the redevelopment was a true partnership effort.

We were delighted that this work was recognised nationally when Safe and Sound received the Charity Today Partnership of the Year Award for the redevelopment of Melbourne House.

More importantly, the project has created a safe and hopeful space for children, young people and families affected by exploitation.

How would you describe the support the charity receives from the local community, including the Bondholders?

Everything we do has been supported by Bondholders and the local community. Half of our board of trustees are or have been Bondholders.

We need to raise £100,000 every year through small grants and fundraising. We have been the charity of the year for many Bondholder organisations – if we haven’t, consider it!

We have our traditional race night and business games, both hugely supported by Marketing Derby bondholders and businesses.

We receive so much pro bono support and advice when needed – as an example, just before we bought Bold Lane a Bondholder solicitors were moving out of their premises.

We now sit proudly around their old board table in their leather chairs.

What would you say is the most satisfying aspect of the job?

Firstly, it is not a job – it’s a huge honour and pleasure. And the answer is everything!

Seeing the young people come through their ordeals and recover.

Seeing perpetrators locked up for substantial sentences.

Having the best staff and volunteer team on the planet!

Why are you retiring, and what plans do you have for the future?

I want a rest! I want to travel. I want to spend time with my family and friends. And I need to declutter my house! I may do some volunteering in the future (not for six months at least) but never another paid job.

What will you miss most about the role?

The people I have had the pleasure to work with and see each and every day.

What advice would you give to your successor?

Always remember why you are there and have time to reflect and learn.

Work in partnership you can do so much more.

Enjoy every day but remember to switch off and have some you time. It is not a nine to five role.

Is there anything else you would like to say?

Thank you to every single person who has supported Safe and Sound and me personally. We could not have done it without you.

I would love a day when Safe and Sound can close its doors and are not needed but while they are, please talk about it and support our young people.

They are, after all, the future for our city and community.