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Welcome to the latest edition of the Early Help newsletter. We hope this newsletter finds you safe and well. With so much information about at the moment we wanted to send you a second update for April.
In this edition you will find news about online youth groups operating during lockdown, how to keep children safe online and in the home, and the continued support available through Beam, Kooth, Autism West Midlands, the Parenting Team, and the Public Health Nursing Service.
If you have information on your service area you would like to share in the next early help newsletter, please email Kate.Bentham@shropshire.gov.uk
Whether you think a child, young person or family needs some support, or you are worried a child might be at risk of abuse or neglect, there is only one number you need – 0345 678 9021. From this number you will receive the support you need to get the right help at the right time to strengthen families and safeguard children.
Shropshire Council has set up a special Covid-19 helpline number to help those who are vulnerable and in need of help to use if they have any coronavirus-related issues or enquiries. Important: The council’s new helpline cannot provide coronavirus health advice or other health advice, and we will direct people to go onto NHS 111 online, as per Public Health England / Government advice, if this is what is needed.
The Helpline is 0345 678 9028, and is available from 8am to 6pm weekdays, and 9am to 1pm Saturdays. Each caller will be asked to explain their need and, if required, this information will be passed on to the appropriate support.
Shropshire Council has also developed a website providing information and updates on services and support as a result of the impact of the coronavirus. This website includes a section specifically for parents and carers.
Many thanks to all of you that took the time to feedback after completing the Me Learning Modules. We have reviewed your comments and have removed some of the modules to reflect this. Me Learning is now available for you to complete.
If you require access to EHM you will need to complete and pass 70% of Me Learning before you are granted access to the system, so it is essential to undertake this training. If you would like to access Me Learning and have not had log in details, please do not hesitate to contact us ShropshireStrengtheningFamilies@shropshire.gov.uk
During lockdown, parents are accessing information like never before. Shropshire Council’s Family Information Service (FIS) social media accounts have been a great source of support and information to families.
In the run up to schools closing and during the closure period, figures show that more and more parents are accessing information digitally and especially through Facebook and Twitter. The Family Information Service has seen a spike in engagement with an increase of 462% over the last 28 days.
The FIS is using social media to share information about changes to services and availability during lockdown, and also resources which families might find useful. Popular posts have been those related to emotional health and well-being, both for parents and children and young people.
The FIS is also offering parents support as they adjust to having children home from school and provide information on ideas for fun activities in the home or learning opportunities.
Reaching over 3000 accounts, the FIS is a popular channel through which to get information out to families.
If you feel any parents you are supporting would benefit from this information they can Like and Follow the FIS on Facebook or Twitter
The Parenting Team is continuing their service of telephone consultations. Parents and carers can simply call the office on 01743 250950 or email parenting.team@shropshire.gov.uk to arrange a consultation at a time convenient to them. Professionals can also contact the office and arrange appointments for parents/carers if they have gained their consent to pass on their telephone number.
Taking the current situation into account the parenting team can support parents and carers with:
- managing difficult questions and worries from children due to the current situation
- managing challenging behaviour which might be a result of the changes to their everyday lives
- maintaining good relationships with children during this time
- suggestions on activities to do with children
- talk through and reflect on the online course content with a Parenting Practitioner
The online Understanding Your Child parenting courses are also still available:
- Clicking on the In Our Place website.
- Then put the access code DARWIN18 in the box
- Choose from the following courses
- Understanding pregnancy, labour, birth and your baby
- Understanding your baby
- Understanding your child
- Understanding your teenager’s brain
- Understanding pregnancy, labour, birth and your baby: for women couples
The support currently being offered by Beam is purely phone-based. They cannot provide support via email, text/messaging apps or on video calling platforms. Please note that they are not offering a crisis or instant response service.
Accessing call-back support:
Young people can email Beam at AskBeam@childrenssociety.org.uk asking for support. Once they have emailed, an automatic response will ask for some more information. When this has been completed, a team member will contact them to discuss what help they need, and when the best time would be for a practitioner to call them. Calls will be booked in with our practitioners within our usual drop-in times.
Accessing support without a call back:
Where a young person does not want to talk but still needs some support, they can still contact Beam via AskBeam@childrenssociety.org.uk They can send details of online resources, information and apps which can offer support.
Information for Professionals:
You can signpost any young people who you feel would benefit from knowing more about this offer to the Beam website.
You can also pass on the details as to how they get in touch with Beam. Please ask the young person to contact us via AskBeam@childrenssociety.org.uk.
Beam aren’t able to contact young people unless the request for contact from the service has come from the young person or their parent/carer.
For all young people who are aged 13 and under, their parent/carer will need to make a request on the young person’s behalf. As with the face to face drop-ins, the young person should want to engage with Beam, and be able to do so over the phone.
During lockdown SYA are running virtual Youth Club using the Zoom app for the following areas:-
- Bridgnorth
- Ludlow
- Broseley
- Sutton Hill
- Brookside & Stirchley
- Minsterley
- Westbury
- Nesscliffe
- Hanwood
- Market Drayton – Phoenix centre
- Market Drayton - Zone
- Hinstock
- Whitchurch
- Wem
- Oswestry
There is also two XYZ youth groups for LGBT+ young people that are meeting virtually on Saturdays
All of these clubs have separate Facebook pages with a good following of parents, some also have What’s App groups. Weekly links are posted via these pages to access the youth club. The clubs start at 6.00pm and run for 1 hour, with a range of activities from challenges, fitness activities, scavenger hunts, group colouring and chatting etc.
The club leaders are also available on their work phones, text and online to offer individual support to young people who are struggling.
For further information visit the SYA website or search on Facebook.
Adam Purnell - Youth and Community Development Worker for Shrewsbury Town Council is also running weekly Zoom youth club sessions, with a timetable posted up at the beginning of each week on the Young Shrewsbury Facebook and Instagram pages (search YoungShrewsbury). If young people or parents would like to be involved in the sessions, which have included games and amazon prizes delivered to winners houses just drop them a private message on social media. They will then forward the codes which allow access to the meeting.
The Public Health Nursing Service may be offering a reduced service, but they are still offering support to children, young people and their families.
You can contact their helpline on 0333 358 3654
Or you can TEXT Health Visitors on 07520 635212 or TEXT School Nurses on 07507 330346. Please note these numbers are for texting only.
There is a different contact number for professionals 01743 730090
If you, or anyone you know, is the victim of domestic abuse, please be reassured that there is still help and support available. Anyone worried about or living with domestic abuse can get help from any of the services below.
Shropshire Council First Point of Contact (FPOC)
- Adult social care and safeguarding concerns – 0345 678 9044
- Safeguarding children: access to children’s social care and targeted early help – 0345 678 9021
- Housing – 0345 678 9005
Telford and Wrekin Family Connect – 01952 385385 (Family front door, including child protection referrals)
Out of hours Emergency Duty Teams:
- Shropshire Council – 0345 678 9040
- Telford & Wrekin Council – 01952 676500
- Shropshire Domestic Abuse Service (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) – 0300 303 1191
- Shropshire Domestic Abuse Helpline (24 hours) – 0800 7831 359
- Safe Lives – The UK-wide charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse, for everyone and for good.
- Men’s Advice Line – 0808 801 0327
- Respect helpline – 0808 802 4040 (for anyone worried that they may be harming someone else)
- Galop – 0800 999 5428 (national helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people experiencing domestic abuse)
- Forced Marriage Unit – 0207 008 015
With most people now confined to home and with children not in school we have been busy working out new ways to offer to support families during this time.
Emma and Wendy are running weekly webinars on the following:
7th May Autism & the teenage brain
14th May Autism & Anxiety
21st May Happiness & Wellbeing
28th May Autism Awareness
To book a place book via our online shop and details of how to register will be sent to you.
https://shop.autismwestmidlands.org.uk/collections/events
Tuesday Morning 11am-12pm
Wednesday Evening 8pm-9pm
We will be running online support groups via the Zoom platform. Join us for an opportunity to talk with other parents, share ideas, and offer support.
To take part in this group book a place by emailing Gemma at gemmae@autismwestmidlands.org.uk and details of how to join will be sent to you.
Oswestry Coffee morning is our longest running support group and is attended by an established core group of parents. For this group we are setting up a closed Facebook group and will be providing opportunities to meet up virtually together with Emma via Zoom. If you are a member of this group contact emmah@autismwestmidlands.org.uk
We continue to offer advice and support over the phone and via email. Parents and carers can contact our small team directly as follows and for phone calls either speak then or arrange a call back at a more convenient time. Video calls can be offered if required
Mon, Tue, Weds Wendy Cowton 07900784186
Weds, Thu, Fri Emma Hegenbarth 07881109480
Email shropshire@autismwestmidlands.org.uk
During lockdown, there has been an increase in serious accidental injury to children, most notably from burns.
90% of the most serious preventable accidents to the under-fives fall into five main areas:
- Threats to breathing – choking, strangulation or suffocation
- Falls
- Poisoning
- Burns and scalds
- Drowning
The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) have put together information on keeping children safe during lockdown
CDOP want to highlight the issue of strangulation from any item which has a long cord. This is in light of nurses now using uniform wash/laundry bags to prevent COVID 19 spreading. CDOP have previously reviewed the death of a 4 year old child who died as a result of accidental asphyxiation, the death was caused by the long cord of a laundry bag which was hanging on the back of the door. Asphyxia is the 3rd most common cause of child accidental death in the UK. This CAPT website and this ROSPA website provide more information and prevention information.
New name, new structure, new priorities
On 1st April 2020, Shropshire Safeguarding Partnership met and agreed the new name of the Partnership, the new structure and the strategic priorities for the next three years.
The Partnership is now called the Shropshire Safeguarding Community Partnership (SSCP).
Things will be different, but this is a great opportunity for us all to come together to make Shropshire a safer place to live, work and grow up in.
Over the next few months, the Business Unit will be reviewing the SSCP Constitution and Executive Group Terms of Reference and will work with the SSCP and the Executive Group to implement the new structure. The Business Unit will also be working to update the new Partnership title and logo across all our business including our websites, email addresses, the multi-agency safeguarding training booking system, Polices and Procedures, etc.
The new leadership team for SSCP is made up of:-
- Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service
- West Mercia Probation Service
- West Mercia Police
- Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group
- Shropshire Council
Data shows over 4 in 5 adults are worried about the effect that coronavirus (COVID-19) is having on their life right now, with over half saying it affected their wellbeing and nearly half reporting high levels of anxiety.
Public Health England’s Every Mind Matters website includes new NHS expert tips and advice on looking after mental wellbeing and supporting your family and loved ones during this time
With many feeling worried, anxious or isolated during these challenging times, Every Mind Matters highlights that there are lots of things we can all do to look after our mental wellbeing and help others to prevent these concerns from becoming more serious.
The range of new resources, designed specifically to help manage our mental wellbeing during coronavirus, include a tailored COVID-19 Mind Plan, COVID-19 specific content for individuals and their loved ones, and support for specific mental wellbeing issues such as anxiety, stress, low mood and trouble sleeping. The website signposts people to activities such as mindful breathing exercises, help reframing unhelpful thoughts, and muscle relaxation.
Everyone in the country has been affected by COVID-19 in some way, be it through staying at home and being separated from friends and family, uncertainty about work or education, or knowing someone with the virus.
Alongside the new COVID-19 mental health support, Every Mind Matters encourages people to complete a personal ‘Mind Plan’, a quick and free interactive tool offering tailored mental well-being advice. More than 1.9 million ‘Mind Plans’ have been completed since the launch in October.
The NHS-endorsed content has been developed in partnership with clinicians, academics and leading mental health charities and social enterprises and offers authoritative, evidence based and practical support to the general public, as well as people with specific mental health concerns.
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Talk about your worries: it is normal to feel worried, scared or helpless about the current situation. Maintain contact with friends and family via phone and video calls to share how you are feeling.
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Keep a regular routine and set goals: you may need to set a new routine for now. Try writing a plan for your day with the things you can still do at home, like watching a film, reading a book or completing a puzzle. Setting goals and achieving them gives a sense of control and purpose. Maintaining good-quality sleep makes a big difference to how you feel mentally and physically too, so it's important to get enough (the Every Mind Matters sleep page provides practical advice on how to improve your sleep).
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Manage your media and information intake: if 24-hour news and constant social media updates are making you worried, try to limit the time you spend watching, reading, or listening to coverage of the outbreak to once or twice a day.
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Do things you enjoy and try something new: focussing on your favourite hobby, learning something new, or simply taking time to relax indoors should give you some relief from anxious thoughts and feelings and can help boost your mood. Look online for lots of free tutorials and courses.
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Look after your body: our physical health has a big impact on how we feel. At times like these it can be easy to fall into unhealthy patterns of behaviour that end up making you feel worse. Try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, drink enough water and exercise regularly. You can leave your house, alone or with members of your household, for one form of exercise a day – like a walk, run or bike ride. But make you keep a safe 2-metre distance from others.
For more information visit Every Mind Matters
Adam Purnell - Youth and Community Development Worker for Shrewsbury Town Council AKA celebrity chef Shropshire Lad has been fronting online family cooking videos for families during lockdown. You may want to encourage some of your families to take part. This has been very successful in engaging with families. Adam has been going to the food hub to get ingredients for some of the young people he mentors. They have been delivering the ingredients to the doorstep of families. All young people got involved last week.
Families can subscribe to his YouTube channel for free, and then they will get notifications for all of the live workshops.
To get the ingredients list families will need to follow his page on either Facebook or Instagram, simply search Shropshire Lad. The ingredients list for the following session are posted after the Live recording has finished, so that people have time to get themselves organised to take part.
Members of the public are reminded to ‘Take 2’ large steps (two metres) away from others when they are out and about. This is approximately the length of an average bed.
The campaign which has been launched by Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) is being used to highlight the distance people need to maintain from each other to respect social distancing measures during the coronavirus outbreak.
With the UK entering its sixth week of lockdown, ‘Take 2’ aims to remind people that two metres is a greater distance than people might think.
The more a person comes into contact with the droplets from coughs and sneezes of an infected person, the more likely they are to catch the infection. It is therefore extremely important to maintain a two metre distance.
Please visit nhs.uk/coronavirus for the latest health advise or visit gov.uk/coronavirus for all other information.
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