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Welcome to the latest edition of the Early Help Newsletter. In this edition you can find information on things to do over the summer holidays, help and support available to families over the holidays, free first aid sessions, and lots of training opportunities to support your practice. There’s also a goodbye from Siobhan Hughes who is leaving Shropshire for a new opportunity in Scotland.
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 Kate 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.’
Shropshire Council’s Children and Young People’s vision statement
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 support families and safeguard children.
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My time at Shropshire will be coming to an end on Friday 15th August 2025 as despite some lovely visits, I wasn’t able to persuade all of my family to move here from Scotland.
I feel very privileged to have worked and lived in Shropshire for the first part of my son’s life and we will have many happy memories. Shropshire is a unique place - despite the challenges of budgets, geography, environment (I now have a lot of unexpected knowledge about flooding), transport, sheep and potholes - people work together to create and support excellent services for children and their families, often with no budget, just motivation, innovation and the will to do what’s best for people.
Being part of Early Help has been a wonderful experience for me, watching it transform into a strong system, which is now at the forefront of services, having embedded our Help Can I help? Approach across the partnership ensuring that families now get the ‘right help at the right time’. I know that the Families First Programme will help us to enhance our preventative services even further in the next 12 months.
Thank you for all of your wisdom and support and I look forward to hearing about all the exciting work that is going to happen next from Glasgow
Siobhan Hughes - Service Manager Early Help and Children Looked After
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The Parenting Help and Support Line are here for parents with a friendly listening ear and practical advice on everything from behaviours that challenge to sleep issues. No judgment, just support.
Call 01743 250950 Monday - Thursday, 9.30am - 4.30pm or Friday, 9.30am - 3.30pm or email: parenting.team@shropshire.gov.uk
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It’s fair to say that all parents from time to time need some help and support with issues that impact on family life. There is help and support available in Shropshire through our Early Help coffee and chat drop ins – some of which are also stay and play sessions.
You can get free Information, advice and support on all aspects of family life, at our Family Drop-Ins. You can chat, have a cuppa and see how we can help you with:
- Family life
- Parenting support
- Domestic abuse support
- Money worries
- Housing support
- Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
- and much more
A new Coffee and Chat session is now running in Whitchurch, the first Wednesday of the month from 9:30am - 11:30am. To find your local drop in please visit the Shropshire Family Information Service Directory
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Information on the open access clinics run throughout Shropshire by Health Visitors has been updated. You can find out where they are and when they run by clicking on the Shropshire Family Information Service Directory
They offer parents the chance to get their baby weighed but also to access information, advice and support on a range of topics, including:
- Infant feeding and breastfeeding advice
- Child development
- Emotional health and wellbeing
- Parenting and local support groups
- Behaviour
- Sleep
Please promote these great clinics to parents who may benefit from attending. Parents who would like support but are unable to get to a session, can also get help by calling 0333 358 3654 or texting the team on 07520 635212.
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Worried about your relationship or feel you’re arguing too much? Not all arguing between parents is harmful but when it’s intense or happens a lot of the time, there can be a negative impact on the children.
If your relationship is going through a difficult phase, you can find ways to argue ‘better’, resolve disputes and reduce conflict at home with our range of free courses, resources and apps. Have a look at the Getting on better pages of the Early Help website.
Parents can also come along to one of our Let’s Talk about…. Healthy Relationships drop ins to discuss the tools available for improving communication skills and feeling better about their relationships.
Taking place in our North Early Help Coffee and Chat sessions on:
Tuesday 29th July at Raven House Market Drayton 9.30-12
Thursday 31st July at Oswestry Library 9.30-12
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The summer holidays are about to start and go on for 3.5 years (rough guesstimate).
Our Family Information Service have been busy gathering information on things to do and places to go this summer holidays.
Our directory has lots of events listed and more will be added over the summer months, keep checking this link.
If parents are looking for holiday clubs to break things up, or childcare, check out our list of local providers. From arts and crafts, animals, STEM clubs or football, there is something for everyone
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The Young Carers service has moved into Early Help and will be undergoing a consultation process with young carers over the coming months
We have reviewed the referral process and so once you have spoken to the family and gained their agreement for support to the service, please phone FPOC 03456789021 and speak to EHAST. There’s no need for a referral form.
We have just recruited to our Young Carer Support worker vacancy she is hugely experienced and a passionate advocate for young carers.
We have just held a consultation event on Thursday 11th July and will be relaunching the monthly groups and using these sessions to start the discussion with young carers about the type of service and support they would like.
This is also tied in with our Youth Offer work, so there will be great opportunities for collaboration
In the meantime, we are reminding colleagues about the importance of identifying young carers, and the range of support options available.
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Mini First Aid Shropshire's Baby and Child First Aid Awareness and Baby Proofing class has been combined and put into a 3-hour session for parents. The class covers CPR, Choking, Bumps, Burns, Breaks, Bleeding, Febrile Seizures, and Meningitis & Sepsis Awareness, along with how to prevent those accidents from happening in the first place.
This part of the course is an absolute must for preventing accidents in the home – very sadly, in 2020, over 60,000 children were admitted to hospital in the UK after a preventable accident. Parents and carers lead such busy lives that we are often just a bit of good luck away from a hair straightener burn, a fall down the stairs, or a choking incident while our back is turned. Baby proofing will teach you how to prevent these accidents from happening.
Mini First Aid partners with the First Aid Industry Body, Children’s Burns Trust, Meningitis Research Foundation & Sepsis Trust for the latest in medical research updates to support our teaching.
The 2-hour Baby Proofing class is accredited by the Global Alliance for Child Safety.
Drinks and biscuits are provided. Each family attending will receive a free first aid kit and home safety starter kit.
Open to PARENTS OR PARENTS TO BE with a Telford or Shropshire postcode - Please provide the first part of your postcode when booking. Booking link Upcoming events - Booking by Bookwhen
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Ash Molloy, Family Relationships Coordinator has set up regular lunchtime drop-in sessions, delivered via Teams, which are available to anyone that works with conflicted relationships between parents.
You can drop into any session to discuss a family you’re concerned about or just come along to listen and learn.
If you’re confused whether you’re dealing with Parental Conflict or Domestic Abuse, we can unpick that, or if you’re just stuck and unsure how to move forward, support is available.
2025 drop-in sessions as follows:
If you would prefer a 1-1 with Ash to discuss a particular family, please email ash.molloy@shropshire.gov.uk
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Don’t forget to book to attend any of the new Parental Conflict training bite-sized sessions or attend these as refreshers on working with challenging parental relationships.
Module 1 – introduction to reducing parental conflict – book via Leap here
Module 2 – using tools to support healthy parental relationships – book via Leap here
Module 3 – building confidence is delivering an intervention – book via Leap here
Module 4 – complex coparenting part A – book via Leap here
Module 5 – complex coparenting part B – book via Leap here
Helping children and young people to understand parental conflict – book via Leap here
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This service is a new offer of specialist support available for children aged 0-5, they accept referrals from professionals or families
Practitioners currently offer Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) as a therapeutic intervention. VIG is an evidence-based intervention recommended by NICE (2015) to promote secure attachment and support social and emotional wellbeing in the early years.
VIG is recommended for children on the edge of care to support parents to increase sensitivity towards their child. More information about VIG can be obtained at What is VIG? | AVIGuk
The practitioners can support families with a variety of complex presentations including:-
- Where there is evidence of a relational difficulty
- The parent appears to struggle to show empathy or lacks sensitivity in meeting their infant/child’s needs
- There are concerns around the child’s behavioural, social and emotional development
- The family require support from a multi-agency targeted approach to support their child/infant’s emotional health needs
Referrals can be made by using the BeeU referral form or alternatively for a consultation prior to referral establishing suitability please email beeuearlyyears@mpft.nhs.uk
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Shropshire Recovery Partnership, delivered by WithYou, provides free and confidential services, without judgement, to adults and young people facing challenges with drugs and alcohol. If you have questions, need advice, or just want to talk, we’re here.
One to one support for young people
One- to-one support for young people aged 11-18 in Shropshire who are facing challenges with drugs and alcohol.
Our Young Person's Workers will meet with you regularly to help you work through some of the things you are struggling with.
You can bring a parent or another person you trust, if you feel nervous about coming to see us.
Who is our service for?
This service is for you if you’re:
- under the age of 18
- living in Shropshire
- worried about your own drug or alcohol use or someone else’s
Support for Young People and Families in Shropshire | WithYou
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Kinship’s annual survey for 2025 is now open, and they wanted to ask for your help ensuring they hear the experiences of as many kinship carers as possible.
Do you work with or support kinship carers, or know a colleague who does? If so, please share the link to our annual survey with them and encourage them to take part. Access the survey and share the link with kinship carers
The survey is open to all kinship carers who are raising the child of a relative or a friend when their parents are unable to.
This includes those with a legal order (an SGO or CAO), informal kinship carers and kinship foster carers (also known as family and friends or connected foster carers). The survey will take kinship carers around 20 minutes to complete, is completely confidential, and closes Tuesday 5 August.
As the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales, Kinship has delivered an annual survey of kinship carers since 2016. Their surveys are the largest of their kind and give kinship carers the chance to share what life is really like navigating the unique challenges kinship families face. The insights they gather help them to design and deliver high-quality advice and tailored support, so they can be there when kinship carers need them.
Survey responses also equip them with powerful evidence to make a compelling case for much-needed policy change. The figures from the surveys have featured across national and local TV, radio and newspapers helping to boost awareness of kinship care and help more families get the support they need.
Aims to: Provide an understanding of young people using substances, exploring addiction, exploitation, and how artificial intelligence (AI) may influence future exploitation.
Learning objectives:
- Explore the signs and indicators of substance use in young people
- Consider tools, trends, theories, and ways of working with young people
- Gain knowledge and skills to deliver education and have conversations with children and young people on substance awareness and harm reduction
- Consider child exploitation surrounding substance misuse and how AI may influence this in the future
- Know what services and resources are available and where to signpost
Click here for Substance Misuse and Young People - information and booking
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Make ‘every contact count’. When it comes to exploitation, it is too often that opportunities are missed – if the child is choosing to speak to you, they must trust you with their information. Young people will be the first to say that they do not like having a change of worker or being referred – so knowing what you can do if you are presented with disclosures is vital.
Learning objectives:-
- Consider use of appropriate and effective communication with young people
- Explore practical methods of offering support and engaging in meaningful interventions with young people
- Understand Shropshire’s exploitation profile
- Explore how to complete high-quality CE risk assessments
- Understand latest themes & trends with child exploitation (especially evolving use of technology)
- Refresh knowledge of statutory safeguarding duties and the law
- Identify when, why and where to signpost or where to get support
Facilitators: Delivered by two trainers (on rotation) - Stafford Mason – Early Help Exploitation Lead, Donna Richards – Senior Social Worker (Together Reducing and Ending Exploitation in Shropshire – TREES) and George Davies, Drug & Alcohol Advisor (TREES).
The trainers have direct experience working with and supporting young people who are being exploited. They are part of the Local Authority (LA) safeguarding procedures (Exploitation Triage, Joint-Decision Making Panel, locality, disruption, mapping meetings) and panel members of the weekly consultations offered by the LA.
Audience: Open to anyone working with or supporting children and young people who may be at risk of exploitation.
CLICK HERE for Children's Exploitation Pathway course information and booking
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NSPCC Learning has published a CASPAR briefing summarising the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) 2025 updates to the statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance for schools and colleges in England, ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE).
The guidance is currently for information only and will come into force in September 2025.
The CASPAR briefing covers: changes to the list of content risks under online safety; additional information on alternative provision guidance; and the DfE’s ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ becoming statutory guidance.
Read the CASPAR briefing: Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) 2025: summary of changes
Read the guidance: Keeping children safe in education 2025
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The Department for Education (DfE) has published its child development strategy for England. The report outlines how the government will work to ensure every child has the best start in life by providing better support for families and better access to quality early education and care.
This includes the creation of Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority, open to all but based in communities where they are needed most. These Hubs will work closely with other local children’s services to safeguard children and help families facing complex problems, particularly those supported by a dedicated family help lead practitioner.
Other measures highlighted in the strategy include strengthening health services, especially maternity care and health visiting.
Read the paper: Giving every child the best start in life
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Lovely compliment for Anna, Family Support Worker in the South
Mum
Anna has been really supportive of both me and XXXX, she has listened to my concerns and understood where I was coming from. I have seen a big difference in XXX since Anna started working with her, she has grown in confidence, and it is down to Anna's kindness and understanding. XXXX will miss Anna, but I feel like we are in a better place now. Anna kept my informed of everything that was happening and any concerns that were raised during her sessions, there was no judgments at all
Child age 10
I really like seeing Anna, she makes me laugh and she brought me cake. I feel better and she has helped me lots, I still have worries, but they aren't so bad anymore. She has talked to me about safe people and who I can talk to, and she's talked to me about what worries are mine and what aren't. I'm really sad Anna is leaving, I don't want to stop seeing her cause I will miss talking to her.
Some great feedback for Nicola, Family Support Worker in the south
Mum
You were brilliant, you are amazing at what you do, there should be people like you doing your job, you sat and listened to me and I am extremely grateful for all you have done for me and my family.
Her teenage daughter;
'Trust Nicola'!
Compliment for Ruthy, Play Practitioner from a school where she worked with a year old child
School have reported that X is now able to utilise things he has learnt with Ruthy in School to help him to stay calm such as walking away when he is starting to feel angry. He is now recognising his emotions and is happier now in himself. He has started to communicate how he is feeling and this has improved more recently after talking to Ruthy. Ruthy has been absolutely amazing and couldn't have done any better and X has loved his sessions with her and will miss her visits. Ruthy has literally been a lifesaver!
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