Charlene’s mother, Karen Downes has campaigned for investigations into grooming gangs in Blackpool, and welcomed the announcement of a national grooming inquiry earlier this year.
“I’d never heard of grooming gangs when Charlene went missing. I was shocked by the scale of it,” she said, in June.
“Hopefully this inquiry will shed more light on it and more will be done.”
Speaking earlier this week, the leader of Blackpool Council, Lynn Williams, reiterated the authority would “engage fully in the National Enquiry”.
The Justice for Charlene Downes Campaign Group, on Facebook, have said they will “continue to fight until justice is finally served, and every person and agency that failed Charlene is held to account”.
Meanwhile, a new podcast entitled Charlene: Somebody Knows Something – by actress, broadcaster and fellow Blackpool native Nicola Thorp – was recently released with Thorp telling the Guardian, she hoped it might be “a call to action… for people to bring information forward”.
