Orkney campaign to purchase NSPCC books to help keep children safe from sexual abuse

An NSPCC children’s book to help keep children safe from sexual abuse will be shared with parents and our peedie people here in Orkney as part of the local Talk PANTS campaign. 

Copies of Pantosaurus and the Power of PANTS are to be purchased as part of the local campaign and distributed to several outlets, including schools, via health visitors, libraries, and key agencies such as Women’s Aid Orkney, the Orkney Rape and Sexual Assault Service, Voluntary Action Orkney to ensure the book is read and shared by as many parents and carers with young children as possible. 

The books can also be purchased directly from Matalan selected stores or at Matalan.co.uk, selected Blakemore Retail SPAR stores or the NSPCC shop via www.nspcc.org.uk and all profits from the sale of this book will support the NSPCC’s vital work.

This is the NSPCC’s first children’s book and was made possible thanks to a crowdfunding campaign which saw NSPCC supporters raise £46,440 for the project. 

The book, written by Rebecca Girlings and illustrated by Fhiona Galloway and Jamie Nash is based on the charity’s Talk PANTS campaign and it has been published in partnership with Ladybird and features the NSPCC’s friendly dinosaur Pantosaurus. Actress Natalie Dormer, star of Game of Thrones and an NSPCC ambassador for Childline, voices the audio book.

The book will help children learn about the PANTS rules which aims to help keep them safe from sexual abuse. From P through to S, each letter of PANTS provides a simple but valuable rule - that their privates parts are private, their body belongs to them, and that they should tell an adult they trust if they’re worried or upset.

In the book, children will read about Pantosaurus getting a new pair of pants and Dinodad tells him that they will give him special powers. Pantosaurus then experiences a problem at school and just as Dinodad told him, his super pants give him the power to speak up.

Research conducted by the NSPCC suggests that 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused and, through PANTS, the charity is working to make sure that all children have the vital language that they need to speak out to a trusted adult. 

Since the launch of PANTS, 1.5 million parents have already had one of these conversations with their children and the Pantosaurus Song has been watched more than 2.5 million times. The NSPCC now hopes the book will help many more parents and carers talk PANTS with their little ones.

The local multi-agency campaign group is made up of representatives from the Council, Police, NHS Orkney, NSPCC and others.

Orkney Islands Council Head of Education, Peter Diamond, said: “We know how children love a bright and colourful picture book and especially one that brings to life a big cuddly dinosaur. This is such an effective way to spark conversations with little ones to help keep them safe.”

DC Andrew Mann, from Kirkwall Police Station and chair of the local group, added: “We are delighted to be in a position to purchase a resource that will undoubtedly help educate children from a young age on what is right and wrong in terms of their own bodies. It’s also vital to give parents and other professionals the tools with which to do this in a manner that is easy for both in terms of communicating and understanding.”