Coronation Street Legend supports People's Postcode Lottery's impact in Devon and Cornwall

A Coronation Street legend has paid tribute to charity fundraisers whose generosity has helped hundreds of children in Devon and Cornwall “speak out and stay safe” over the past 11 months.

Wendi Peters – best known for playing Cilla Battersby-Brown in the ITV soap between 2003 and 2014 – is a long-time supporter of the NSPCC, which last July received a £100,000 grant from the People’s Postcode Lottery.

The money has since been spent on the charity’s schools service activities in Devon and Cornwall, as well as in North East London.

Area coordinators and their team of volunteers deliver ‘Speak Out, Stay Safe’ assemblies and workshops at primary schools across the region, focusing on safeguarding messages to ensure pupils know what abuse is in all its forms, how to keep themselves safe and how to identify a ‘trusted adult’ to speak to if they are worried about anything.

NSPCC research shows that, on average, at least two children in every primary classroom will have suffered some form of abuse or neglect, while the majority of children who contact the charity’s Childline helpline are aged over 11 but often talk about abuse that happened months or even years earlier.

Wendi said: “With child abuse becoming more prominent in today’s media, we continue to hear the devastating stories of children’s lives being torn apart.

“The NSPCC is tackling this by educating children to recognise the signs of abuse and helping them to identify a trusted person whom they can tell if they feel sad or unsafe.

“Thanks to the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, the NSPCC has been able to support children in Devon and Cornwall to keep themselves safe from abuse through the NSPCC’s school service.”

Since the schools service launched in 2010, there have been more than 250 school visits in Devon and approximately 150 in Cornwall. Over 16,000 children have been spoken to in Devon and more than 7,000 in Cornwall.

Colette Hudson, NSPCC schools service area coordinator for Devon and Torbay, said: “We would like to say a big thank you to the People’s Postcode Lottery for this grant which has been instrumental in allowing us to encourage children to speak out and stay safe across Devon and Cornwall.