Category Archives: News

Summer Gets Active 2022

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8 Days, 13 Activities, 50 Peer Mentors, 75 Children, 48 Families and 9 Nationalities…

It was another busy summer at Portadown Gets Active, with an excellent team of peer mentors who delivered 7 of the workshops over the 2 weeks. A fantastic family day took place with a visit from Jurassic LOC-down and lots of Jurassic-themed activities ran across the week!

Find out more about the Summer Gets Active 2022 programme and about what participating children, young people and families thought of the experience HERE

Next up, Halloween’s “Monsters Inc Gets Active”…

(The aims of Portadown Gets Active (PGA) are to provide Primary School age children, who are eligible for free school meals, with a healthy breakfast and lunch outside of school term-time, as well as providing opportunities to learn something new, participate in physical activities and most importantly have fun with their peers. Referrals also come through the Craigavon & Banbridge Family Support Hub (FSH) , Community Intercultural Programme, Family Intervention and SHSCT. Children from Portadown, Craigavon, Lurgan and Banbridge attend the Programme. Oasis Youth, PGA’s lead community partner, works in partnership with key agencies and organisation to ensure PGA has run successfully since 2017.)

Moving into Secondary School with Type 1 Diabetes

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Year 8 Pupils and Parents.

31st August 2022, 7pm (online via Zoom)

Are you starting secondary school? Do you have type 1 diabetes? Then join our online session for Year 8 pupils and parents, where young leaders will share their experiences and top tips, as well as a workshop on dealing with anxiety.

Created for young people with type 1 diabetes and their parents/guardians, you’ll join two workshops which aim to help you and your child prepare for the big move into year 8. This can be a challenging time for young people without having to consider how you might manage your diabetes so join us for this zoom – learn about managing anxiety, hear from our volunteers and connect with people from this community.

For more information or to register follow this link: Back 2 School – moving into secondary school with type 1 diabetes Tickets, Wed, Aug 31, 2022 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite

Working Parents – Financial Assistance with Childcare Costs

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As many families face increasing financial pressures, many working parents are struggling with everyday costs, including Childcare Costs. Many working parents are unaware of government financial assistance with childcare costs e.g. Tax Free Childcare, Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit which will support working families to remain in work.

Brightstart Funding in partnership with Family Support NI have produced two animations to give parents an overview of the types of financial help available and practical guidance about how to access it as well as promoting the benefits of registered childcare provision.

Watch Video – https://www.familysupportni.gov.uk/NewsStory/209/working-parents–financial-assistance-with-childcare-costs

Drug and Alcohol Service Directories

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Drug and alcohol misuse affects individuals, families and communities across Northern Ireland.

In recognition that no agency can address this issue alone, five multi-agency partnerships (Drug and Alcohol Coordination Teams) exist across the region.

In 2015, PHA brought together the five local DACTs to form a Regional Steering Group to work collectively to address drug and alcohol misuse by developing events, initiatives and resources.

DACTs are Drug and Alcohol Coordination Teams. DACTs are made up of statutory and community agencies with an interest in, or need to, address drug and alcohol issues in the Trust area. There is a DACT for each Health Trust area in Northern Ireland, and each has a Connections team. We (Connections) support the development and implementation of each DACT’s action plan. We also offer a range of services as outlined on the NI DACTS website

Your local DACT Connections Service can be contacted in relation to any alcohol and/or drug-related concern or query that you may have — they will be able to advise you on how they, or your local DACT, can help.

There are a range of early intervention, prevention and treatment services available in each locality area. For further information on services in your area please see the local drug and alcohol service directories below.