Chelsea's Story 

‘Chelsea’s Story’ is a internationally renowned, hard-hitting Applied Theatre Production that has proven highly successful in raising awareness around the issues surrounding Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). The play, which has now been seen by hundreds of professionals and over 950,000 young people throughout the UK, is followed by an actor facilitated post-show talk exploring the issues raised.

It tells the story of a group of three students who discover the diary of a girl called Chelsea. Chelsea was a 15 year old girl who, having fallen out with her friends and family, met a guy called Gary. Gary was kind, understanding, had a nice car, had his own flat and listened to her. Unfortunately Gary was not what he seemed to be! Chelsea’s story is played out and examined by the three students who, along with their teacher, attempt to understand what happened to Chelsea.

Themes of the play include:

• Healthy and unhealthy relationships (how can each be defined) 
• Safe internet use
• Sexting
• Consent
• Grooming processes
• Child sexual exploitation & the differing methods
• The avoidance of victim blaming and shaming
• How to access help & advice

Download the Chelsea's Choice resources.

Download the Exploitation lesson plan.

*NEW* Chelsea's Story/Crashing Performances for September 2025 onwards

Chelsea’s Story/Crashing performances have been booked to take place in September 2025.The performances will run from Monday 22nd September for 5 weeks. The performance will form part of one of our Traded Service offers and, on that basis, will be free as long as you have subscribed to that package. Schools not signed up at the time will be invoiced as stated on the booking form.

Following on from the success of the previous thirteen tours, I am pleased to be able to inform you that I have booked the interactive drama presentations covering sexual exploitation to be delivered within Gloucestershire Schools aimed at Year 8 pupils again for this year. To minimise disruption due to winter ailments, the tour will start in mid September and run into October. 

Schools will have the choice of receiving one of the following productions aimed at Year 8s 

Crashing Raising Awareness around Child Sexual Exploitation and it’s impact on Boys and Young Men

Chelsea’s Story Raising Awareness around Child Sexual Exploitation

By way of background, towards the end of 2011 the Department for Education published its Action Plan and Tim Laughton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, in his Foreword to the Action Plan commented: ‘The vast majority of children in this country grow up safe from harm. However, the Barnardos report ‘Puppet on a string: the urgent need to cut children free from sexual exploitation’, published in January 2011, was a wake-up call for all of us. It emphasised that children are being sexually exploited here and now and that this appalling form of child abuse is more prevalent than most people could ever imagine’.

The GSCP is undertaking a number of pieces of work to tackle the issue of Child Exploitation. It recognises that Gloucestershire does have children in the county currently being sexually exploited or at risk of becoming victims but often these go unreported or are not recognised as abuse.

If you would like your school to take advantage of this play, please return the attached pro-forma indicating, which show you would like and the dates that would be most convenient for the company to deliver the performance to your Year 8 pupils.

Booking Form

Any questions, please do let us know via email to gsep@gloucestershire.gov.uk

For further information about hosting a production in your school, please email Gloucestershire Safeguarding Education Partnership: GSEP@gloucestershire.gov.uk