Walsall CIC · est. 2020 · Community · Education · Prevention

I matter. Every child. Every voice.

Early intervention and crime awareness for the young people of Walsall.

Get involved See how we help
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Funded by · Working with

The National Lottery Community Fund Walsall Council West Midlands Police Nash Dom CIC Be Well Walsall Walsall Connected

iMatter Walsall CIC (reg. 12756824) delivers services across Walsall — alongside Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and our partners.

Manifesto

The iMatter Walsall badge: a rainbow of torn brush strokes, with a white circle carrying the words Walsall #iMatter and a shrug in place of a full stop.

We teach children to recognise, talk about, and report the things that harm them — before they escalate.

Through play, we build the courage and the words to stand up to abuse, exploitation and violence.

Because every young person in Walsall deserves to know that they matter.

Over the years we have collaborated with law enforcement, healthcare providers and our community to design and deliver projects that reduce violence and improve health & wellbeing — building safer, healthier and more resilient communities for all.

A hall with an oversized snakes-and-ladders board spread across the floor and a giant soft dice on it, with a group gathered behind the game.

Our story

From a school hall in Palfrey to the whole of Walsall.

2017A Palfrey Big Local project. A police sergeant raised child sexual exploitation at a residents' meeting, and the project that followed, drama and workshops in schools helping children to identify, talk about and report it, reached 6,000 children in six months.
2020Registered as a Community Interest Company, company number 12756824, so the work could carry on independently: early intervention, education and signposting, on our own terms.
2026Awarded two years of National Lottery Community Funding — the Early Intervention & Crime Awareness Workshop Programme.
NowThree weekly programmes in Palfrey: the Community Safety & Wellbeing Drop-In, the Warm Hub at The Seedhut, and Wellbeing Walks with Be Well Walsall.
We launched a project called iMatter Walsall, which saw us reach out to 6,000 children in six months.
Imrana Niazi, iMatter Walsall, writing for Learning from Big Local, March 2023

speak

stand up to any form of abuse

The impact

Proof that this work is vital.

6,000+Young people engaged in our early-intervention activities across Walsall.
2 yrsOf National Lottery Community Fund support to expand our reach.
SchoolsWhere our workshops build confidence to spot the signs of exploitation.
PlayThe games and methods that make serious messages stick.
2017where it began
2020became a CIC
Palfreyour first school hall
Walsallour whole community
Speakwhat we help them do
No bookingjust turn up

Learn through play

Hard conversations, built as games.

Snakes & Ladders

Adapted to teach children about the risks of exploitation, drugs, gangs and knife crime — a board where every move is a lesson.

Awareness

The Foosball Table

A familiar game redesigned to open conversations about child exploitation and safe choices.

Engagement

Workshop Programme

Early intervention and crime-awareness workshops for young people, families and communities — with funding now to take it further.

Education

Awareness

What child exploitation is, and what grooming is.

The two definitions from our awareness poster, in full.

What is Child Exploitation?

Child exploitation is when an abuser takes advantage of a young person for their own personal gain. This can take place in many forms, including sexual exploitation or forcing the child to commit crime.

What is grooming?

Grooming is when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.

The iMatter Walsall awareness poster: two characters ask what child exploitation is and what grooming is, either side of a rainbow paint splash carrying the Walsall #iMatter badge, above a row of campaign hashtags.
The poster, as we print it — “Children learn through play, and through play the message is conveyed!” Follow the work on Instagram @imatterwalsall and X @iMatterWalsall, or email info@imatter-walsall.uk

Join us

Drop in. Warm up. Belong.

Community Safety and Wellbeing drop-in flyer

Community Safety & Wellbeing Drop-In

Every Monday & Tuesday · 9–11am

The Seedhut, Palfrey Park, WS1 4AN

Free, friendly and open to everyone — advice, company and a brew. No need to register.

Free · No booking Peek inside a session → Full programme →
Warm Walsall warm hub flyer

Warm Hub

Winter seasons only — not running at present

The Seedhut, Palfrey Park, WS1 4AN

A Council-funded winter project: free heating, hot drinks, soup and snacks, with energy-saving advice. Run through the cold months — not running at present.

Warm Walsall · winter seasons What the Warm Hub gives you → Full programme →
Be Well Walsall wellbeing walk flyer

Wellbeing Walks

Weekly · with Be Well Walsall

Palfrey Park & around Walsall

Peer support and trained health coaches, open to all abilities — walk, talk, breathe.

With Be Well Walsall How the walks work → Full programme →

From the community

Real sessions, real people, real Walsall.

Breakfast station at a Seedhut session
Monday breakfasts at The Seedhut — coffee, cereal and company, every week. via @imatterwalsall on Instagram
Large-print puzzle books ready for a session
Activities prepped for the drop-in — puzzles, chat and a brew. via @imatterwalsall on Instagram
Sunflower mural painted at a school workshop
Bring your own sunshine — a workshop mural at Whitehall Junior School. via @imatterwalsall on Instagram
The school hall on a workshop day, with the murals above and the pupils own puppet board
School workshop day — the hall, the murals, and the board the pupils made themselves. via @imatterwalsall on Instagram

Follow the work

The story continues on our socials.

This site is the front door — the day-to-day life of iMatter happens on our socials: session photos, dates, school visits and announcements, posted by the team.

Instagram — @imatterwalsall
Facebook — iMatterWalsall CIC
X — @iMatterWalsall
Email — info@imatter-walsall.uk

Prefer email? Write to us — we answer everything.

A stitched twist on the iMatter badge, on a denim jacket, made by someone else
A stitched twist on the badge, made by someone else.

Funding

Thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund, our work continues.

Awarded two years of funding to deliver our Early Intervention and Crime Awareness Workshop Programme — supporting young people, families and communities across Walsall through education, prevention and positive engagement.

2 yrsof funding
2026award year
Early interventionworkshop programme

Safeguarding · If you are worried

Where to get help

If you think a child or young person is in immediate danger, call 999.

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Walsall, and the police

  • Walsall MASH, concerns about a child: 0300 555 2866
  • Walsall MASH out of hours: 0300 555 2922
  • Black Country Women's Aid, Walsall: domestic abuse support
  • West Midlands Police, non-emergency: 101

Children and young people

Online safety, and for adults

  • CEOP: report online grooming or sexual abuse
  • NSPCC helpline, for adults worried about a child: 0808 800 5000
  • NSPCC Report Abuse in Education: 0800 136 663
  • Stop It Now, for adults worried about their own thoughts: 0808 1000 900

How to help

  • Grooming often starts with flattery, gifts, and asking a child to keep a secret.
  • If a child confides in you: stay calm, listen without judgement, and never promise secrecy.
  • In games and social apps, watch for gifts, in-game currency, and pressure to move to a private chat.
  • Samaritans, free any time: 116 123

Contacts checked October 2026.

Every child matters. We help them know it.

Get involved Schools, families and community groups — let's work together. No wrong door — we'll point you to the right support.

What we can bring to your school or group: education and awareness workshops for Year 5 and Year 6 pupils, parent and carer awareness sessions, family sessions, one-to-one support sessions, and mentoring and early intervention.

Our standing programmes run at The Seedhut, Palfrey Park: the drop-in, the Warm Hub, which needs no booking, and the Wellbeing Walks, which run weekly with Be Well Walsall.

Find us

The Seedhut, Palfrey Park

Three programmes run here: the drop-in every Monday and Tuesday, the Warm Hub through the winter, and the Wellbeing Walks. The Seedhut, Palfrey Park, WS1 4AN.

Clicking the map opens Google Maps in a new tab.

What the week looks like in Walsall

Monday 19 October11:33 PM

10°overcast

feels 8°wind 4 mphgusts 10 mphdark now

  • Todaylight rain13° / 8°feels 10°rain 100% · 8.1 mm · 4am
  • Tuesdaylight rain11° / 10°feels 10°rain 100% · 10 mm · 7am
  • Wednesdayrain10° / 6°feels 9°rain 67% · 25 mm · 4pm
  • Thursdaylight rain12° / 5°feels 9°rain 67% · 5.6 mm · 11pm
  • Fridaylight rain10° / 7°feels 9°rain 82% · 13 mm · 10am

Community Safety & Wellbeing Drop-In

Community Safety and Wellbeing drop-in flyer

Every Monday & Tuesday · 9–11am · The Seedhut, Palfrey Park, WS1 4AN · free, just turn up

The week starts at the Seedhut. Doors open at nine: a breakfast station with coffee, tea and cereal, tables with puzzle books and large-print activities, and volunteers who are there to listen.

Ask about anything — personal safety, worry about a young person, keeping warm and well through winter, or where to find the right service in Walsall. If we can't help directly, we'll point you to the partner who can. No appointment, no referral, no judgment.

Warm Hub

Warm Walsall warm hub flyer

Winter seasons only · not running at present · The Seedhut, Palfrey Park

When the temperature drops, the kettle goes on. The Warm Hub ran through the Warm Walsall winter programme: free heating, hot drinks, soup and rolls in a warm room with good company — for anyone finding bills hard through the cold months.

It was funded by Walsall Council as a winter-period project, and it is not running at present. Our year-round drop-in runs every Monday and Tuesday, 9–11am.

Alongside the brews there was practical help: energy-saving advice delivered with Walsall Council, and a quiet corner if you just wanted to sit. Nothing to prove, nothing to sign.

Wellbeing Walks

Be Well Walsall wellbeing walk flyer

Weekly · Palfrey Park & around Walsall · with Be Well Walsall

Walk. Talk. Breathe. A gentle weekly walk with Be Well Walsall's peer support team and trained health coaches — open to every ability and every pace.

There's no fee and no measure of fitness: some come for the steps, some for the conversation, some for an hour outdoors. Meet at Palfrey Park or join further round the route.

As iMatter themselves put it: let's walk, talk, and support each other.

Monday breakfasts at The Seedhut

Breakfast station at a Seedhut session

9 – 11am · The Seedhut, Palfrey Park · every Monday & Tuesday

Coffee urns, cereal bars and a table of neighbours — this is how most Monday mornings begin for the families around Palfrey Park.

Breakfast costs nothing, nobody hurries you out, and half the conversations become signposts: where to get energy advice, who to ask about school worries, when the next walk starts. via @imatterwalsall on Instagram

Activities prepped for the drop-in

Large-print puzzle books ready for a session

Prep shots from a session morning

Wordsearch books, large-print puzzles and a stack of activity sheets, laid out before the doors open.

They matter more than they look: a puzzle gives someone a reason to sit down, stay an hour, and talk when they're ready — which is how most support here actually starts. via @imatterwalsall on Instagram

"…always bring your own sunshine"

Sunflower mural painted at a school workshop

School workshop · Whitehall Junior School

A workshop day, a brick wall, and a message painted by the pupils themselves: "No matter where you go or what the weather, always bring your own sunshine — and stand tall like a sunflower."

The sunflower mural stays on the school grounds as a daily reminder the children wrote for each other. via @imatterwalsall on Instagram

A hall of their own words

The school hall on a workshop day, with the murals above and the pupils own puppet board

School workshop day · Walsall

"Stay on the right path." "Never do drugs." "Your wings exist — all you have to do is FLY!"

Not our words — theirs. Prevention lands differently when the messages are painted by the young people themselves, and a workshop day turns a school hall into the canvas. via @imatterwalsall on Instagram