A NEW flagship NSPCC centre at Poundbury will see the charity able to expand its operations in its bid to tackle child cruelty.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children's Be the FULL STOP' campaign, launched today, aims to encourage a joint effort to help prevent child abuse.

The Poundbury centre will house both the old East and West Dorset teams as well as a new third team to enable more work to be carried out in the area.

Official Home Office figures show that last year there were 25 recorded cases of cruelty or neglect of children in the county, but the NSPCC says this only reflects incidents that are reported and we can never get a true indication of the extent of the problem.

Children's services manager Andrew Conroy said children in the county are victims of neglect, sexual abuse and physical abuse.

He spoke of a typical case the NSPCC faced where a child had suffered serious sexual abuse' and was left with significant bruising'.

He said: "The child was subsequently moved in with another family and a new partner then moved in with a history of having abused in the past.

"This was flagged up and we had to undertake an assessment to find whether the risk was too high for that person to remain with the family.

"After quite a lengthy programme of work we were able to successfully reintegrate the family."

Mr Conroy added: "It is vital we all play a part in ending child abuse."

Ways of supporting the Be the FULL STOP campaign including wearing a special FULL STOP badge, learning how to recognise signs of child abuse, donating £2 a month to the charity, volunteering for an NSPCC service or joining a fundraising campaign.

NSPCC director and chief executive Mary Marsh said: "Child abuse is an all too sad reality for many children in every community. Together we can make a difference to the lives of vulnerable young children and young people."

How offenders manage to get close to children

AN NSPCC case study tells the story of Esther' (the names have been changed to protect the individuals' identities) who had two young children, Annie, seven, and Kevin, two. The charity was alerted by a social worker over Esther's boyfriend Don, who had a previous conviction for assaulting a six-year-old. On investigation, NSPCC workers became concerned about the threat that Don posed. They held several meetings with the family members and made inquiries into Don's past. The case study states: They believed that Don appeared to be trying to infiltrate the family and posed a sexual risk to Annie'. NSPCC workers discussed their conclusions with Esther and eventually she decided to separate from her partner. The study concludes: Esther is now living happily with Annie and Kevin. The NSPCC helped her feel more confident making difficult decisions and she now has a greater understanding of how sex offenders get close to families and children. She and her children are much safer as a result of her awareness.'