Cypriot Andri Nicolaou, who works as civilian staff for Avon and Somerset Police in Britain, has received a highly significant honour for her work preventing and tackling the exploitation of minors.
King Charles III is set to award her the British Empire Medal (BEM), recognising years of outstanding work protecting children and preventing their exploitation.
She has worked at Avon and Somerset Police since 2004, and for the past eight years has served as an officer and coordinator for child exploitation prevention, taking a leading role in educating and raising awareness among children, parents, carers and professionals.
In just one year, she has run awareness sessions for more than 21,000 children, parents, carers and professionals, covering the sexual and criminal exploitation of minors, sexual abuse, human trafficking, drug dealing through so-called “county lines,” violence against women and girls, knife crime, and online safety.
Nicolaou, who is originally from Cyprus and moved to Britain in 2003, has played a decisive role in developing pioneering initiatives to protect and inform young people, work that has been recognised nationally as an example of good practice.
She has led special awareness sessions on child exploitation involving dozens of boys and girls, and also briefs all newly recruited police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).
“My main commitment is to help young people”
Speaking about the honour, Nicolaou said she had never expected such recognition and was surprised that anyone had put her name forward. She said she hoped the award would help highlight her work further and raise public awareness of child exploitation and how to guard against it.
“My main commitment is to help young people and be there for them,” she said.
She also spoke about the dangers of the online world, noting that grooming can happen quickly and in ways that are hard to detect, leading to exploitation both online and offline.
“We are very proud of everything she has achieved”
Avon and Somerset Police Chief Constable Sarah Crew praised Nicolaou’s contribution, describing her as especially dedicated to keeping young people at risk of exploitation safe. She said Nicolaou had strengthened the force’s relationships with child protection organisations and was particularly skilled at building trusting relationships with young people. As a direct result of Nikolaou’s work, she said, young people have made more informed choices and are better able to recognise the signs of dangerous or criminal behaviour.
“We are very proud of everything she has achieved,” she added.
