A SLOUGH man has created a film to warn young people about the dangers of sexual grooming after his friend fell victim.

Gurdeep Singh Cheema, 21, has created the film alongside young people's charity Fixers to help spot the warning signs, and it shows a young girl being groomed by a man she meets online.

Mr Cheema said that he was inspired to tackle the issue after his friend was groomed.

He said: "I had no idea that she was being groomed at the time.

"We had been introduced by mutual friends and got on well, but we lost contact – she stopped replying to my messages and taking my phone calls.

"A few years later I attended a talk in London. Her dad was there, and I found out that she had been groomed by someone older than her and had run away from home when she was 16. I don’t know where she is now or what happened to her.

"I sometimes think if I went back to that time with the mentality I had now I could have helped, but I didn’t see any signs that she was in danger."

Gurdeep appears in the film alongside his sister, fellow Fixer Harnaam Kaur, and he hopes it will help to highlight the issue and raise awareness among young people.

He said: "I hope my film helps people to spot the signs of a potential groomer.

"It's not right for someone older than you to do things like buy you a phone and tell you not to tell anyone and to only let them contact you on that number - it's encouraging secrecy and isolation.

"I think young people can feel like there isn’t help available to them if they’re in that situation, or that they can’t reach out to someone, but I want to show them that they can."

Fixers works with young people aged 16-25 across the UK by providing them with resources to help them campaign on issues they feel strongly about.

The charity has helped more than 19,000 youngsters across the UK to have a voice in their community on issues such as cyber-bullying, self-harm, suicide or transphobia.

For more information or to make a donation to fund more Fixer projects, visit www.fixers.org.uk

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