Check out Hertfordshire's Spring 25 Parenting and Relationship Courses

Please download the latest Parenting and Relationship Support Offer Newsletter which will provide you with information and details on Parenting Courses and Relationship Support offer. Please can you ensure you cascade to your teams. If you have any questions please email CSStrategic.Partnerships@hertfordshire.gov.uk .

We have listed a few of the current courses below, but please visit the Hertfordshire Directory for the full listing.

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Upcoming Parenting When Separated course at the Otley Family Centre Watford is now taking referrals.

Parenting When Separated: A 6-week group based course for separated parents that focuses on the emotional impact of separation and supporting communication between co-parents.

This course is available to all Hertfordshire parents and carers for free.

Upcoming course date:

Face to Face course at The Otley Family Centre, Otley Way, WD19 7TB

Every Friday between 7 Mar - 11 Apr 2025, 10am – 1pm

Parenting When Separated Referral Form

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Family Lives have a course coming up for parents of children with SEND to support co-parenting skills and child development.

The course is free for all Hertfordshire parents and carers.

Who should attend?

Separated or separating parents of neurodiverse children seeking guidance, support, and strategies for co-parenting more consistently.

 About the course

A free 6-session course developed by Family Lives and delivered online via Microsoft Teams.

• Every Monday between 24 Feb - 31 Mar 2025, 7pm - 9pm
• Every Tuesday between 25 Feb - 1 Apr 2025, 9.30am - 11.30am

How to register

Complete a Family Lives referral form if you're a parent of a SEN child or a professional referring someone you know.

Alternatively, get in touch via:

Email: services@familylives.org.uk

Phone: 0204 522 8700 or 0204 522 8699

White goods initiative for residents in need

We're funding a 'white goods' initiative for those most in need across the county. If during your day to day duties you are working with people in need of white goods, such as fridges, freezers, washing machines or even bedding, you can refer them to the Hospital Community Navigation Service initiative. Referrals can only be made by professionals, and we want colleagues supporting people who may be facing financial hardships to know this resource exists. Each referral will be assigned a community navigator who will assess the claim. Please share with colleagues and partner organisations who work directly with residents, such as social workers and occupational therapists

Prevent Awareness Training for Venue Hire Staff - 2025

You are invited to attend the Prevent Awareness Training for Venue Hire Staff in light of the requirement to ‘reduce permissive environments’ under the revised Prevent Duty Guidance.

Prevent is at the heart of safeguarding children and adults. It aims to provide early intervention to protect and divert people away from being drawn into terrorist activity.  One way that Prevent seeks to tackle the ideological causes of terrorism is by limiting exposure to radicalising narratives, both online and offline, and create an environment where radicalising ideologies are challenged and are not permitted to flourish. All venues run by authorities covered by the Prevent Duty are expected to have measures in place to ensure their facilities are not exploited by radicalisers. This includes making proportionate checks on anyone who wishes to hire one of our venues, or any speakers we are inviting to events, to ensure they are not doing so in support of any extremist ideology.
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This session is aimed at staff who are responsible for taking bookings for venues/rooms or who regularly book speakers and works alongside the guidance issued within your local area and your own venue hire policy. This includes staff from:

• Local Authorities
• Town & Parish Councils
• Voluntary / Community Sector organisations
• Educational establishments

This session is open to staff from across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk County Council areas.

Please note that this is open to the community sector but is not open to staff from private companies.
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The session will cover:

• Background – An overview of CONTEST, The Prevent Duty, requirements for relevant authorities under the ‘Reducing Permissive Environments’ part of the Duty and why it is important for your organisation.
• Ask, Check, Decide – They key principles to follow when hiring your venue / arranging a speaker, questions to ask and the information to gather before making a decision.

This will be an interactive session with a chance to practice carrying out due diligence checks with some scenario exercises. To make the most of this session you will need to be signed into a device that enables you to make internet searches at the same time as joining the MS Teams session. You may also find it helpful to have a pen and notebook handy.
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There are sessions available on:

• Monday 24^th March  ||  15:00-16:00
• Friday 25^th April         ||  11:00-12:00
• Tuesday 20^th May      ||  10:00-11:00

All sessions are held via MS Teams and calendar invite with the joining link will be sent to you upon registration.

You can register onto one of the sessions via our registration form. QR code:

You can also use this form to tell us about any accessibility needs ahead of the session.

If you have any questions, please contact prevent@hertfordshire.gov.uk

The Hertfordshire Directory – tell us what you think

We’re improving and re-imagining the Hertfordshire Directory and we need your help.

The Directory already lists a wealth of services for children, young people and adults, as well as people with needs and disabilities, but we want to make it more comprehensive and easier to use, helping to meet user needs, prevent problems and support residents to live life to the full.

If you are a professional (either commissioning services or directly supporting people), please complete our short survey and tell us what you need to make the Directory work for you.

Please also pass it on to colleagues or people you support so we get as much feedback as possible.

If you’d like to know more or want the survey in a different format, please email anne.ardley@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Thank you!

 

Carers Strategy Refresh Survey

Hertfordshire County Council are working with partners to update the Hertfordshire Carers Strategy which sets out our priorities for supporting unpaid carers. We want to hear from people who work with unpaid carers about the issues you come across and what you think would help. Please help us by answering two questions short questions via the Carers Strategy Refresh Survey. We will be doing more engagement, including with unpaid carers themselves, as we develop the strategy this year.

Professionals damp and mould in the home e-booklet

The Environmental Health/ Housing Department teams have co-produced a damp and mould in the home professionals e-booklet  for professionals with:

• Advice about the health risks associated with and factors influencing damp and mould in the home,
• An introduction into Hertfordshire’s Environmental Health and Housing Department teams,
• A risk scale for helping to identifying damp and mould severity,
• The Hertfordshire damp and mould referral pathway
• Signposting and referral details

 

Understanding Trauma' Programme for Parents in Herts whose children have experienced sexual abuse

Trauma Recovery CIC's Butterflies Community are able to offer a funded 6 session Understanding Trauma Programme for Parents in Herts whose children have experienced sexual abuse, with the option of joining a peer support group after.

It's a free, psychoeducational programme that offers an opportunity for parents to become empowered by understanding their child's trauma, and become equipped with tools and support to aid their child's and their own healing - see full info in attached flyer below (Parents group Feb 25 info)

• First session is 28^th February 2025 (online)
• Parents/Carers self refer via the link on the attached information flyer (Parents group Feb 25 info)

Please disseminate the Parents group flyer to appropriate teams and Colleagues to share with parents /carers that may want to access the support.

I've also taken the opportunity to provide Trauma Recovery CIC's brochure detailing who we are and the work we do.

Using Sport to Provide Safe Spaces for Young People - webinar invite

Sport is increasingly playing a valuable role in providing young people with access to a physically safe space in their own local community and an emotionally safe space when supervised by sport practitioners as trusted adults.

You are invited to attend a webinar which will provide academic insight for policymakers and practitioners about the role of sport as a safe space for vulnerable young people. It will cover the following important areas:

• The importance of safe spaces for young people that go beyond physical safety.
• Young people’s views of a space as being safe or unsafe
• The features of a safe space for young people and strategies for creating safe spaces.
• The role of sport for creating a safe space and the benefits that it can provide for young people.
• The use of the public health approach in identifying the role that different types of sport programmes and interventions can play in providing a safe space.
• The importance of contextual safeguarding

This webinar will be delivered by Dr Caron Walpole, Loughborough University and Graham Helm, StreetGames, on:-

When: Thursday 13^th March 2025

Time: 10am-11:30am

Where: Online via Teams

 Attendees will also receive a newly published literature review to accompany this webinar.

 To register a place, please click: Safe Spaces in Sport Webinar

 

Empower groups within your community with the tools to improve their health and change lives

The Living Well Course has been designed by a team of certified Lifestyle Medicine doctors. It helps people improve their health and reduce their risk of lifelong problems, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and mental health issues.

Following successful pilots amongst groups of both patients and health care professionals we are now pleased to be able to roll out the Living Well Course Training Programme across Herts and West Essex.

If you work for a voluntary organisation, charity, social enterprise or faith-based group we have designed this free programme for you… because you don’t need to be a doctor to practise Lifestyle Medicine!

OK, tell me more.

What’s the time commitment?

The Living Well Course Training programme consists of 4 online, live and interactive evening sessions (60-90 mins), followed by an in-person training day.  These will be on the 2nd and 23rd April at different venues across Herts and West Essex.  You will be able to choose which one you attend (capacity permitting)

How much is it?

The course is free to attend, funded through a grant from Assura plc.

Sounds great, what’s the catch?

There is no catch! All we ask is that after completing the training, you plan and deliver your own courses for the organisation that you work for.

So what do I do now? Watch this short video to learn more about the course.

There is already high demand for places.  To avoid disappointment and reserve your place, use this link

Help Children, Young People, and Families share their views

Extended Deadline Sunday 16 March  

The Plan for Children and Young People outlines Hertfordshire County Council’s Vision, Ambitions, Outcomes Framework and Performance Measures for its services for children and young people. Hertfordshire County Council’s current plan for 2021-26 sets out our vision to support children and young people to be happy, feel loved and thrive in their family and community. We are working on a new Plan for 2026-31 and would like to know what is important to include.

Please encourage the children, young people and families you work with to complete the survey.

The specific survey for professionals is also available online.

We also invite you to attend a focus group on Wednesday 12 March from 12:00pm noon – 13:00pm to discuss the Outcome Bees, outcomes for children, young people and families and how they are reflected in the Plan.

Please email p&d.team@hertfordshire.gov.uk if you are interested in attending.

Update from Home-Start Watford, Three Rivers & Hertsmere

Do you work with or know a family with at least one child under 5 who might benefit from some extra support to help them be the best parent they can be? Or perhaps you’re working with someone who could use a bit of assistance in navigating their parenting journey?

We are reaching out to identify families who would appreciate having a caring and experienced volunteer visit them for 2-3 hours each week, offering companionship, emotional support, and practical help.

Here are some examples of how we can assist:

• A parent feeling isolated and hesitant to attend a parent-and-baby group on their own – our volunteer can accompany them, boosting their confidence to meet others.
• A single parent with several young children who feels overwhelmed – our volunteer can provide guidance on routines and help implement strategies to make daily life more manageable.
• A mum or dad struggling with their mental health – our volunteer can offer a listening ear and assist them in accessing the support they need.

We currently have a number of Home-Visiting Volunteers ready to start working with families immediately in Watford, Three Rivers, and Hertsmere.

Referring a family is simple – just complete the referral form on our website (click here), with the family’s consent, and we’ll reach out to them directly. Please provide as much information as you can about the family’s needs, including details about all the children, not just those under 5. 

Once a family is supported by a volunteer they are encouraged  to attend our Family groups and if appropriate, to be internally referred into our in- house counselling team.

Criteria

1. The Family lives in one of the three areas
2. Has at least one child under 5
3. The family is not on a Child Protection Plan
4. It is safe for volunteer to visit (ie; no perpetrator of Domestic abuse living in, or visiting the home)

If you’d like to discuss a potential referral before submitting the form, feel free to contact one of our Coordinators on 01923 248010 who would be happy to chat!

 

News from Services for Young People

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New Duke of Edinburgh’s Award projects 

Services for Young People (SfYP) has just launched four new Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) projects across Hertfordshire. The new projects are being delivered by qualified SfYP Youth Workers and are specifically for young people who need additional support or would be less likely to access the DofE through traditional routes: those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), young people missing from education, home educated young people, and young people being supported by a social worker.

By creating an inclusive and supportive environment, the projects will ensure that all participants can benefit from the DofE experience, regardless of their background or abilities.

Get the full details and how young people can join here:

• SfYP Duke of Edinburgh’s Award projects

 

Young people with SEND have their voices heard on social media takeover day

Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who attend SfYP youth work projects were supported to share their experiences, creativity and views to contribute to the SEND social media takeover day on 3 December. A wide variety of creative content was shared on several Hertfordshire County Council and Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust social media channels with the theme ‘This is Me’, including drawings, crafts, quotes, and videos which represented young people’s experiences and showed how they are contributing to their communities. The event enabled young people with SEND to get their voices heard and drive change in future service design and delivery.

• Read the full story for more images and quotes from the young people

St Albans Youth Council supports local foodbank with Christmas boxes

Members of the SfYP St Albans Youth Council came together to make a real difference in their local community by supporting the St Albans and District Foodbank at Verso Vineyard Church. Wanting to provide extra support to people using the foodbank at Christmas, the young people raised money to make Christmas boxes full of toys, essential food, toiletries, festive treats and gifts, all carefully packed and ready to be given to those in most need. Their efforts show the power of social action, and the positive impact young people can have when they come together to help others.

• Read the full story and find out how young people can get involved with their local youth council

Spring 25 Online Safety Newsletters

HFL are pleased to share the new Parent and Staff spring term 2025 Online Safety Newsletters. We would be very grateful if you could include them in any newsletters you have going out this term where you feel the content would support staff and parents/carers. Both editions can also be downloaded from the HFL website and the Grid.

Both newsletters feature a range of guidance, news, links and updates about online safety for all phases, with particular reference to the current situation, recent developments and concerns.

Our newsletter for staff includes reviews and details about:

• Safer Internet Day
• WhatsApp Scam
• Experts answering online safety questions
• Online Actions – real world consequences

Our newsletter for parents and carers includes reviews and details about:

• Safer Internet Day
• Guides and toolkits
• Instagram updates
• Roblox Safety Updates

If you’d like any more information please let me know or contact our Wellbeing team at wellbeing@hfleducation.org or visit Online safety in schools | HFL Education