Early Help Update March 2023

Newspaper - early help

Welcome to the latest edition of the Early Help Newsletter. In this edition you will find out about an NSPCC briefing on Children’s experiences of legal but harmful content online, information on holiday activities, including bookings for the Spring/Easter HAF (Holiday Activities & Food) Programme, dates for new courses from our Early Help Parenting Team and a goodbye from Fran Doyle who is leaving Shropshire Early Help.

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  or if you know of a colleague who would also like to receive this newsletter they can also email to be added to the distribution list.  

‘By treating our children and young people with respect, love and trust and with the right amount of encouragement we can inspire them to dream big, build relationships and connections that matter and together with kindness and a sense of belonging we can do great things.’

Children and Young People’s vision statement



The only number you need

Whether you think a parent 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.

Early help - one number

Goodbye from Fran Doyle

Wow – how time flies when you’ve been having fun! I have been the Head of Early Help at Shropshire Council now for six years, but this message is to let you know that I am hanging up my Early Help boots and retiring. 

As an Early Help system – every single one of you has helped and supported families and their children to build on their strengths and live the best life they can.  We all know how challenging this has been at times – what with the pandemic, the cost of living crisis, the stretch on organisations and partners budgets and finances, but this has not dampened the Early Help spirit. 

Since I have worked in Shropshire I have always come across staff and partners who are passionate and positive about Early Help and the difference it can make if we start support earlier, work together and help families before problems get worse and entrenched. 

So, whilst I may be heading out of the door – you are not on your own.  Siobhan Hughes – Service Manager in Children’s Social Care will take on responsibility for Early Help, (as a secondment for at least the next six months) supported by the Assistant Director of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding Sonya Miller.   Both of whom are passionate and committed to earlier intervention and Early Help and know the difference this can make to the lives of children, young people and families.

I wish you all the best in the future and a bon voyage

Regards Fran


Bookings for the Spring/Easter HAF (Holiday Activities & Food) Programme 2023 are now open

From 3 to 14 April 2023, eligible children and young people are invited to take part in a range of fun activities, happening at 45 venues from across the county. 

The clubs offer a range of activities such as sports, arts, cooking, forest schools, den building and dance. There is something on offer for everyone. Free nutritious meals are provided at each session, as well as information on nutrition to benefit the whole family.

There are free places available on the programme for children and young people aged 4 (reception class age) to 16, who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals and for those who have been referred onto HAF by a professional.

There is a wide range of activities for children and young people with SEND.

Places are also available for Ukrainian families, currently staying in Shropshire with host families. 

Some of the holiday programmes also include spaces for children and young people who are not in receipt of free school meals.

The bookings in the following areas are lower than we would have liked at this stage:

  • Whitchurch
  • Ellesmere
  • Morda
  • Bishops Castle
  • Craven Arms
  • Bridgnorth
  • Claverley
  • Much Wenlock
  • Shrewsbury (Greenacres School & Sports Village)

We really need your help this week please, to promote the HAF programme to eligible families, particularly in the identified geographical areas.

See the Spring/Easter promo film to get a taster of the activities on offer Spring 2023 Promo v2 - YouTube

To find out more about the range of activities taking place please visit the What’s On guide. 

HAF Easter

Easter holiday clubs and things to do

Easter Holidays

The holidays can be a struggle for many families – balancing work and keeping children entertained.

Thankfully information on holiday clubs and things to do during the school holidays can be found on the online Family Information Service Directory.

You can click this link for holiday clubs and then filter by area or postcode.

And keep checking this link  for Easter activities, which are being added all the time.

If you know of any others please email the info to ShropshireFIS@shropshire.gov.uk


Understanding your child/teen

Understanding your child early help

Do you know parent carers who would like to know more about their child’s development and the support available to understand their behaviour?

Four new Understanding your Child/Teen groups are starting in April and May and there are two specifically for parent carers of children and young people with SEND.

The workshops are delivered virtually through MS teams or face to face in Shrewsbury and will also give you the chance to meet and chat with other parent carers about their experiences.

For more information and dates please visit the Family Information Service online directory.  

Please share with parent carers you think might benefit.

To book a place please call 01743 250950 or email parenting.team@shropshire.gov.uk


Sleep Tight Workshops

Early help - Sleep Tight

Does your child struggle with their sleep? Would you like to access support to help improve sleep and bedtime routines?

Then these FREE Sleep Tight workshops running in April and June could be for you.

The workshops are delivered virtually through MS teams or face to face in Shrewsbury and can give you with ideas to try to help make bedtimes pass more peaceful for everyone.

For more information and dates please visit the Family Information Service online directory.  

Please share with parent carers you think might benefit.

To book a place please call 01743 250950 or email parenting.team@shropshire.gov.uk


Early Help Family Drop In

Family strength early help

Free information, advice and support drop in sessions are now taking place at the Early help hubs in Market Drayton and Oswestry. The aim of these sessions is to make it easier for families to get the help and support they need. 

There are a range of services attending the venues, including Early Help Family Workers, parenting team, housing, school nurses, Family Information Service and the SEND Local Offer.  Although some services may differ week on week there will always be someone to help.

Drop ins take place at:-

  • The Centre, Oak Street, Oswestry SY11 1LW every Monday morning from 9:30am – 12:30pm
  • Raven House, Cheshire Street, Market Drayton, TF9 3AH every Tuesday afternoon from 1pm – 4pm

All In Short Breaks

The All In Programme is part of our Early Help service for children aged up to the age of 18 who live in Shropshire and have a disability or additional need that prevents them accessing universal activities without additional support.

All In short breaks are available to families when universal activities aren't able to meet the needs of their disabled child and provide a range of opportunities. The application form can be completed here.  

All In

Networking Market Place

Are you working with members of your community in South Shropshire across all generations?

Then please join us at our Networking Market Place event on Tuesday 18th April 3.30- 5.30 at Halo Craven Arms Community Centre, Newington Way, Craven Arms, SY& 9PS

This event will give you the opportunity to:

  • Find out about local and countywide services
  • Network with other professionals
  • Get information, advice, and support

If your service does not yet have a stall booked and is interested in having one, then please

contact the Strengthening Families Team for further information email

ShropshireStrengtheningFamilies@shropshire.gov.uk  or call 01743 253921

Networking Event

Healthy Start

Healthy Start

Many Shropshire families are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. It has never been more important for the most vulnerable families to access to financial support available to them.

Healthy start is an NHS Scheme that supports families on low income to buy fruit, vegetables and milk and access free vitamins.

At Shropshire Council we want to encourage eligible families to apply for Healthy Start. All professionals working with pregnant people and young families can play a key role by talking about Healthy Start and promoting the offer. The scheme is now digital, making the application process easier. 

Everything you need to know about the Healthy Start Scheme is available on the Healthy Start website.  

For full details on the eligibility requirements and how to apply:

How to apply – Get help to buy food and milk (Healthy Start)

You can access a wider range of resources here:

NHS Business Services News (nhsbsa.nhs.uk)

The NHS Healthy Start Scheme Promotional material is available in Polish, Romanian, Punjabi, Urdu and Bengali and can be accessed here

NHS Business Services News (nhsbsa.nhs.uk) 


A new exciting, supported internship opportunity at the Royal Shrewsbury hospital.

Local Offer Preparing for Adulthood

Shrewsbury College is looking for 10 young people aged 18-24 years with an EHCP to take part in a new exciting, supported internship project based at the Shrewsbury Hospital.

The interns will be enrolled with Shrewsbury Colleges Group with all provision being delivered at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, facilitating a combination of classroom instruction from college tutors, whilst benefitting from total workplace immersion at the hospital site supported by a job coach. The aim is for interns to transition into paid employment within the health or other sectors. The placements will commence in September 2023, are for 5 days per week term time. 

To enquire please visit the Shrewsbury College website. Contact the admissions team on telephone 01743 342346, or email admissions@scg.ac.uk


Children’s experiences of legal but harmful content online

NSPCC Logo

A recent NSPCC briefing which uses insight from Childline counselling sessions and NSPCC helpline contacts, highlights the experiences of young people who have viewed legal but harmful content online.

It covers

  • Accidental discovery
  • Peer pressure
  • Searching for content
  • Suicide and self-harm content
  • Online challenges
  • Eating disorder content
  • Pornography
  • Self-generated intimate images

“I have been bullied into watching pornographic videos by people at school. One of the videos showed a woman pinned to a table like she was being raped – it made me feel sick”. Boy aged 13, Childline

“One of my old friends posts her SH (self-harm) on Twitter, and with no trigger warning too. I basically saw a big-ass hole in her arm, and there were a few pics where her bed sheets were covered in blood. What’s worse is she’s been messaging some of my friends who are in recovery, saying stuff like, ‘hey, wanna cut with me?’. The things she posted on there have made two of my friends relapse already. Normally I’m alright with blood and stuff but seeing those SH images made me shake for at least 2 hours. Today I wasn’t able to eat because I still got those images in my mind.” Girl aged 14, Childline

To read the full briefing please visit the NSPCC website.


Children who have experienced neglect and who use substance

Please find below the findings from a case file audit recently undertaken by SSCP. The focus was on children who have experienced neglect and who use substance.

SSCP Neglect and Substances

Poster campaign helps understanding of child neglect

A new series of eye-catching posters have been launched to help raise awareness of child neglect.

Work commissioned by Shropshire Safeguarding Community Partnership and undertaken by The Children’s Society, identified the need for better understanding of child neglect and how to recognise it by professionals in particular.

Three posters have been created for childrenparents and professionals. The posters are available in both hard copy and electronic versions and are available to all agencies to display in venues across Shropshire. We hope that by raising awareness, children and their families can access the right support at the right time and professionals and our communities are able to help this happen.

To find out more please email sscpbusinessunit@shropshire.gov.uk 

Neglect Poster

Strengthening Families through Early Help Multi-agency Training

Early Help multi-agency training has been developed to help all partner agencies work better together to achieve the best outcomes for our families and children in Shropshire.  Our multi-agency training is open to any professionals and volunteers working with Shropshire families.  All session are FREE of charge to attend.  Many of our sessions are delivered face to face in venues across the county.

To view our current Early Help Training Schedule and to view further information on our Early Help Network Meetings across the county please visit our Training and Events webpage here.

If you have any questions about Early Help training or our Early Help Network meetings, please contact Tracey Bowen, Strengthening Families Training Administrator via email tracey.bowen@shropshire.gov.uk or telephone 01743 254370.


New Bite Sized Course - Introduction to Child Neglect 2.5 hours

To continue to meet your requests for training at times to suit you, we are trialling bite sized courses. An Introduction to Child Neglect in Shropshire – two 1 hr 15 minute interactive sessions will be delivered virtually on the same day, with a break in between to give you time to reflect on the content and to complete other work.

Thursday 13th April - Part 1 10:00 – 11:15, Part 2 14:00 – 15:15 (2 hours 30 minutes in total)

Tuesday 18th April - Part 1 10:00 – 11.15, Part 2 14:00 – 15:15 (2 hours 30 minutes in total)

This training is suitable for any practitioner who has not completed Child Neglect Modules 1,2 and 3

Learning outcomes:

  • Consider the daily lived experience of children who live with neglect including those with additional vulnerabilities such as disabled children 
  • Recognise and respond to child neglect in Shropshire at the earliest opportunity
  • Know where to access local, regional and national updates and research

If you would like to sign up to the course you can do so by clicking on this link. Please share widely amongst your staff.

To attend this course you need a Leap into Learning account. One can be created by emailing SSCPBusinessUnit@shropshire.gov.uk and providing your full name, email, job title and organisation.


Free domestic abuse training and awareness sessions

Stay are delivering a number of free domestic abuse training and awareness sessions for practitioners in Shropshire, which cover:-

  • Understanding Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
  • Understanding and responding to rape and sexual violence
  • Coercive control
  • Honour based abuse and forced marriage
  • Female genital mutilation and other harmful practices
  • Elder abuse
  • How to understand and use the DASH risk assessment

To find out more visit the Stay website.


Online Beam workshops for parent carers

Beam

Beam is an emotional wellbeing service for children and young people under 25 years old who are registered with a GP in Shropshire or Telford & Wrekin. Beam can support with anything relating to emotional well-being. 

They are offering a number of virtual workshops for parent carers on the following topics:

  • Understanding and Supporting Self Harm
  • Wellbeing Planning
  • Managing Anxiety
  • Sleep Support

To find out more about each workshop and the link to join please visit the Family Information Service Directory.

Beam also offer support for children and young people via:


Early Years SEND Review

Early Years SEND

This year Shropshire took part in the Department for Education (DfE) funded National Association of Special Educational Needs (NASEN) Early Years SEND review programme to drive improvement for SEND in early years settings.

The programme plus 2 DfE funded webinars focuses on:

  • roles and responsibilities and processes around SEND
  • effective and inclusive practice,
  • reviews, including peer reviews
  • building positive relationships with parents of SEND children
  • How NASEN DfE-funded Early Years resources can be used to support Early Years in meeting the needs of all children.

The reviews and reflection identified areas for development and opportunities for professional development, that can be shared effectively with other settings.

14 out of the 24 setting that originally signed up have completed the review and others are committed to completing at a later date.

The outcomes of the review have provided some areas of consideration as well as areas of celebration for the Local Authority (LA) when working to support quality provision for the children of Shropshire.

Feedback when shared at an Early Years SEND partnership Regional Event last week:

‘Shropshire have done really well, you have completed the highest number of reviews of the 6 LAs on the project this time round so thank you for your hard work and commitment 😊’

For further information please contact Sue Carroll - SEND Strategic Lead Early Years on email: Sue.carroll@shropshire.gov.uk


World Autism Acceptance Week

Autism Acceptance Week

There are more than half a million autistic people living in the UK, an invisible and misunderstood disability. 60,000 live in the West Midlands.

World Autism Acceptance Week takes place from 27th March – 2nd April 2023 and this year Autism West Midlands will be looking more closely at what acceptance means and looks like for the people they support, their staff and within the community.

The general theme for Autism Acceptance week this year is ‘Colour’ and they have been thinking of all the different ways you can join them to celebrate this year! For further information please on how Autism West Midlands could support you, or their work during World Autism Acceptance Week, please visit their website.