Halton Borough Council and partners at Halton Safeguarding Board  launched an awareness campaign today (June 29)

The aim of the “Have you ever wondered why“ campaign is to enable greater awareness of safeguarding adults to prevent abuse and neglect and help protect those members of our community who may be at risk of harm.

It includes posters/ads/press stories/web and social media.

The Halton Safeguarding Board is an active multi agency panel that provides guidance and information to those ensure that adults who may be vulnerable or open to harm are protected by ensuring that people know what to look for when a person is being abused in some way.

The Halton Safeguarding Adults marketing campaign will focus on the top 3 most prevalent forms of abuse in Halton- physical abuse / financial or material abuse / neglect or acts of omission.

There are ten different types of adult abuse: physical abuse / financial or material abuse / neglect or acts of omission / domestic violence or abuse / sexual abuse / psychological or emotional abuse / modern slavery / discriminatory abuse / organisational abuse / self-neglect.

These are not being left behind by the campaign, but the threats to people in Halton are based mainly around the three priorities.

HSAB is made up of senior executives and service leads from, NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, Local Authority- adults services and children’s services, Police, Fire and Rescue, North-west Ambulance service, NHS England Probation services, Healthwatch.

Halton’s Executive Board Member for Children, Young People and Families, Cllr Tom McInerney, who is a member of the board, said: “This is a very important step forward. People in Halton need to be aware of what to look for when a person is being abused in any way.

“If you suspect something is wrong, speak out, you may regret not doing so if things get worse for the person you are concerned about”

The Safeguarding team has made sure that the vital information on how to spot abuse of any kind is available to everyone including carers and healthcare professionals, however, the main thrust of the campaign is to make the general public aware of what to look out for and what to do about it.

All information will be treated in confidence.

The groups has an independent chair Audrey Williamson. There are also sub groups covering the local services across health, community, faith services eg DWP, Age UK mid Mersey and statutory services sit on these too.

If you think someone may be in trouble or danger, please look at http://adult.haltonsafeguarding.co.uk/what-is-abuse/ or call 0151 907 8306. If you feel that someone is in immediate danger, call 999.