Family Support Hub Celebration Event – June 2022

On 24 June 2022 the CYPSP Support Team, Family Support Hub (Hub) Coordinators, Hub members and other integral Partners came together for the first time since 2018, to reflect on and celebrate the work of the Hubs with particular focus on the work of the Hubs and members during the pandemic.

The day also provided an opportunity for Bronwyn Campbell to meet Hub Coordinators in person for the first time since taking up the role of Regional Family Support Hub Coordinator within the Health & Social Care Board (now SPPG/DoH) at the beginning of January 2022.

Aidan Dawson, Chief Executive of the Public Health Agency and CYPSP Chairperson, opened the event, reflecting on the achievements of the Hubs.

Valerie Maxwell (Children’s Services Planning & Information Manager, SPPG/DoH) presented an animated video summarising the 2021/22 Annual Report, before Bronwyn Campbell addressed the Coordinators.

Presentations followed from Coordinators and Hub members – Lisa Grant (Craigavon & Portadown Hub), Alison Slater (Newry Hub), Joanne McCourt (Belfast Central Mission), Claire Larkin (Northern Area Hubs) and Sharon Nelson (Springfield & Whiterock Hub) who showcased how they adapted and changed their services in creative ways to enabled them to continue to meet the needs of the families and young people despite lockdown.

James Gallagher from Lifeline gave a fantastic presentation on “Caring for the Caregiver” and Eugene Mone from Barnardo’s brought along the Sensory Overload Virtual Reality Experience, a really powerful and thought provoking piece of work.

After a group exercise facilitated by Maxine Gibson (Children’s Services Planning Professional Advisor, SPPG/DoH) looking at what Coordinators seen as the challenges facing the Hubs in the next 12 months and how to rise to these challenges, the event was brought to a close by Maurice Leeson (Programme Manager Partnerships, Emotional Health & Wellbeing, CAMHS and Disability, SPPG/DoH).  This was particularly fitting given that Maurice played such a central role in the establishment of the Hub Network.

 

Summer Gets Active 2022

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.)

School Uniform Recycling Toolkit

Having identified poverty as a critical factor which can adversely affect families and which has been further exacerbated by the impact of Brexit and Covid-19 pandemic in recent years, members of both the Dungannon and Mid Ulster LPGs have co-produced a practical toolkit to support schools in the running of a School Uniform Recycling Initiative.

The Toolkit offers a practical resource for schools in running a School Uniform Recycling Initiative and includes handy tips, suggested structures for discussion, templates to adapt and use, and links to further reading and resources.

Although the School Uniform Recycling Toolkit was produced for the Mid Ulster Council area, it can be adapted and used across NI-wide settings.

Thanks to members of both the Dungannon and Mid Ulster Locality Planning Groups (LPGs): local partnerships working towards improving outcomes for children, young people and families across Northern Ireland.

Thanks to the PTA of Magherafelt High School for their support and feedback on the Toolkit and to those participating schools in the Mid Ulster area.

Thanks also to the authors/owners of the various resources and further reading we have included throughout the Toolkit.

Download School Uniform Recycling Tool Kit

Download Uniform Inventory Spreadsheet

For any clarification or assistance in using/adapting the School Uniform Recycling Toolkit, please contact one of the following Locality Planning Co-ordinators based on the geographic area of your school:

Northern Health & Social Care Trust area: Emma McElhone(Emma.McElhone@northerntrust.hscni.net)

Southern Health & Social Care Trust area: Darren Curtis (localityplanning@ci-ni.org.uk)

 

 

 

Arabic Speaking Parents Experiences of Education System in NI

The Parent Participation Service recognizes the importance of designing services with parents using their voice and the skills of practitioners together to improve services.  We understand the vital role that parents have in creating improved outcomes for children and families.  We are here to support parents to influence the activities of the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership (CYPSP) and to support service providers to develop and improve co-production practice with parents.

We facilitated an informative direct participation event with Arabic speaking
parents from the N.I. Family Muslim Association exploring their experiences of the
education system in NI. See infographic  below of the keypoints that were captured that will be shared with Outcomes Groups for inclusion in future planning.

 

 

Annual Family Support Hub Report Card 2021/22

FSH Annual Report Card 2021/22 and Family Samples 2021/22 are now available on the website under Family Support Hub Monitoring on the Family Support Hub page or downloaded here.

https://cypsp.hscni.net/download/391/family-support-hubs/37927/fshannual_report-card-2021_22.pdf

https://cypsp.hscni.net/download/391/family-support-hubs/37928/final-of-family-samples-june-2022.pdf

It has been another very busy year for the Family Support Hubs and referral numbers have risen each year since monitoring began. Hubs continue to meet the needs of families across all 29 Hubs and ensure families are able to access early intervention services to best meet their needs. The annual report reflects the hard work and dedication of the Hub Coordinators and members through the year and reaffirms the effectiveness of the Hubs.