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Cabbies train to spot signs of child abuse
David is Lions’
new president DAVID Priestley has been chosen as the new president ofMaidstone Lions Club. A retired building soci- ety manager, he has been presi- dent of Maidstone Club three times before. David, who lives in Loose Road
with his wife Sandra, was involved with Loose Swiss Scouts for more than 30 years, many of them as chairman. He is pictured with Lion Marion
Brooks, the club’s outgoing presi- dent. During her two years as pres- ident the club donated more than £44,000 to charitable causes, mainly in the Maidstone area. Maidstone Lions Club belongs to
the largest service organisation in the world, with more than 1.3 mil- lion members. Formore details call David on 01622 745023.
TAXI drivers in Tonbridge and Malling are taking part in a pio- neering training scheme to help guard against child abuse. Almost 600 drivers will be taught
to spot the signs of potential ex- ploitation following national scan- dals involving thousands of children. An inaugural batch of drivers
has attended the pilot training ses- sion at the council offices at Kings Hill. The workshops are being made compulsory in the borough and are the first to be held in Kent. Drivers are being asked to be on
the alert for any regular patterns in journeys and whether they are being booked to take the same adults or young people to the same address.
Training, which is part of the council’s Safeguarding Children Abused Through Sexual Exploita- tion initiative, consists of two ses- sions for managers, supervisors and drivers and will be rolled out to 583 hackney carriage and pri-
vate hire drivers licensed in the borough.
The first batch of taxi drivers who have been trained to spot signs of abuse Cllr Brian Luker, cabinet mem-
Tonbridge and Malling Council
said it felt moved to act because it was a common trend across Eng- land that abusers were using pri- vate hire vehicles. It comes in the wake of scandals
such as that at Rotherham where an independent inquiry into sex abuse found that child victims were moved around in private hire vehicles.
ber for community safety, said: “With the recent high-profile cases in the press we are making this training mandatory for all new ap- plicants and taxi drivers who are currently licensed with Tonbridge and Malling Council. “This will ensure that operators, managers and drivers are aware of the signs to look out for and who to contact if they have any con- cerns.”
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