Outrage as charity offers condoms to a boy of 8 in park

AN ANGRY mother has launched a protest after her 13-year-old daughter and nephew, aged just eight, were offered condoms as part of a safe sex campaign.

Condoms were offered to a boy aged just 8 Condoms were offered to a boy aged just 8

Taxpayer-funded charity health workers, who hand out condoms on park bushes for homosexuals who meet for public sex, s­potted the children playing and began handing out the contraceptives.

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Stunned Samantha Fuller only discovered what had happened when she found a stash of ­condoms in her 13-year-old daughter’s bedroom.

She says her eight-year-old nephew was also in the park in ­Beverley, East Yorks, at the time and was also offered ­condoms.

But he refused to take them because he had “no idea what they were”.

Mrs Fuller, 38, said the incident totally undermined her role as a parent. ­

She added: “My daughter’s ­sexual health is my responsibility. It’s not that of a stranger giving out condoms.

“I feel she is being encouraged to have sex and she is being encouraged to be deceitful.

“It’s not right. I was fuming when I found out she has access to condoms without me knowing about it.” The contraceptives were handed out by outreach workers from the Yorkshire Cornerhouse project and East Riding Youth Service during a visit to public spaces in Beverley.

Cornerhouse, formerly known as Aids Action, receives the vast majority of its funding from local authorities.

They confirmed they handed out condoms but insisted they were only offered to children over the age of 13.

Mrs Fuller, who has lodged a formal complaint, wants parents to know children are being given condoms on the streets without being asked for proof of age or identity.

She said: “This person said ‘We are handing out free condoms if you are interested’.

“My nephew, who’s eight years old, was offered them at the park.”

Mrs Fuller said her daughter is not sexually active but had taken the condoms from the health workers “for a laugh”.

She said: “I am not opposed to sexual education but as parents we need to know what services are available so if our children come to us we can say ‘If you don’t feel ­comfortable speaking to me you can go here or there’.

“She’s my daughter – she’s not the Government’s daughter, the council’s daughter or the youth centre’s daughter.

“They will not care about my daughter if anything happens. It’s my responsibility.”

Yesterday the staff at the Yorkshire Cornerhouse project said chief executive Tish Lamb was unavailable to speak to the Daily Express.

But in a statement she said: “The idea of street-based projects is to enable people who maybe don’t have access to mainstream services having access to support, advice and anything they might need to know about sexual ­wellbeing.”

Yesterday East Riding Youth Service ­manager Jackie Brewis responded to the complaint and said: “Whilst also encouraging young people to delay sex and speak to their parents and carers, we also have a responsibility to offer them confidential advice and support with the aim of reducing teenage pregnancy.”

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