The latest news

Help us promote the Families First Website

Our Families First Website is a great central resource for early help support for families and young people, with links to many services such as mental health support, Services for Young People, SEND Local Offer, parenting courses etc along with a link to the Herts Directory and the Families First professionals area.

We would like to encourage all partner agencies to help us promote the Families First website to parents and carers in Hertfordshire.

Campaign Tools:

Please add the web address to your own website:- https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/microsites/families-first/families-first.aspx

Or use the QR Code for direct link to the Families First homepage:

Download a QR code

Download a Families First Logo

Social media

Please follow Families First on Facebook and X (Twitter)

Coming Soon:-

We are in the process of creating a poster for display in public facing spaces - watch this space!

Thank you in advance for your support with this campaign.

Supporting separated parents in Hertfordshire

Reducing parental conflict forms part of our commissioning priorities within Early Help and over the past 6 months we have been running Parenting When Separated. A practical and positive evidence-based course for parents who are preparing for, going through, or have gone through a separation or divorce.

Parenting When Separated is a six-week course that highlights practical steps parents can take to help their children cope and thrive, as well as coping successfully themselves.

Topics include:

Solving co-parenting problems in a positive way that focus on the needs of children.
Coping with the emotional impact of separation and learning stress management techniques.
Helping your children cope with the impact of the separation both emotionally and practically.
Enhancing communication with their children and with their children's other parent.

The course is free to attend and is open to separated parents from all backgrounds. Both mothers and fathers, resident and non-resident parents. Where both parents wish to attend the course they attend separate courses to allow parents the confidence to explore the emotional impact of separation.

To date we have had 105 referrals for the course with the majority of these referrals being self-referrals following promotion through schools. We have run 4 groups both online and in person and have a further 2 dates planned before Christmas.

Online on Monday 30th October until 4th December from 6:30-9pm
Face to Face on Thursday 2nd November to the 7^th December at The Shephall Centre from 10am-12:30pm

Make a referral here

The course is a mixed group of up to 12 parents of both resident and non-resident parents ensuring that the group is rich with experience. Parents complete goal setting at the beginning of the course and provide weekly feedback on what they have learnt from the course, anything they would like to cover and how they are achieving against their goals.

Parents have fed back how they find the group ‘non judgemental’ and that the most valuable aspect of the course has been ‘ideas & understanding of other parents viewpoints plus little tips and tricks to ease communication’

Parents advised in their feedback “We have come closer as a group and we will all stay in touch weekly to have that continued safe space between us outside of the formal setting. It’s been brilliant to have met and got to know the guys in the group and I hope we continue to support each other as we work through our situations.”

All participants that completed the course felt that they had improved skills and techniques to feel more confident in supporting their child’s needs as a result of separation and in communication with their child’s other parent.

For more information about relationships support access Relationship support for parents | Hertfordshire County Council

One Minute Guide : Reducing Parental Conflict

Our HCC Commissioning team have created a one minute guide to Reducing Parental Conflict in Hertfordshire. It’s a really ease to digest document which explains what parental conflict is, how to identify it and what to do if you spot it. It also explains the training package available for the workforce.

Please do share with you teams and discuss at your team meetings so we can reduce parental conflict in Herts together.

Download the guide here

Just Talk Week – Back to Basics

Are you someone working with children and young people and looking to help support their mental wellbeing? Look out for the wealth of useful information and resources that we are providing for Just Talk Week 2023.

Monday 20^th November marks the start of this year’s Just Talk Week campaign, with the theme ‘Back to Basics’, focusing on strengthening understanding about Just Talk - Hertfordshire’s children and young people’s mental health/emotional wellbeing programme, and expanding its reach across the county.

We will be encouraging children and young people in Hertfordshire to embrace conversations about mental health and showing them where to find support if they need it. Just Talk carries the important message that it’s okay to not be okay and there is help readily available for everyone who needs it.

The Just Talk website is a hub of information and tools for young people, as well as parents, carers and professionals - all with the common goal of enhancing the emotional wellbeing of children and young people. We invite you all to explore our resources and help to spread positive messages about mental health.

Visit Just Talk Week 2023 for helpful resources for children and young people, and support for parents, carers and professionals working with young people.

Check out our social media pages @justtalkherts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for regular updates.

Help us to explore experiences of food insecurity in Hertfordshire

The Public Health team at Hertfordshire County Council is participating in the Food Insecurity Monitoring at the Local Level (FILL) Project, which aims to gather data on food access, local services, and the impacts of the rising cost of living.

In collaboration with the University of Liverpool, they have created a 15-minute, anonymous survey to understand how access to food is being affected by financial or other reasons. The results of this survey will help to understand where any support needs to be directed for residents, particularly during the rising cost of living.

You can access the survey here

Please help to promote this survey using any of the comms tools included below as this will offer Hertfordshire residents the opportunity to have their say.

a flyer and social media graphic
text to share with professionals
text to share with residents

If you are a Hertfordshire resident, then please do feel free to complete the survey yourself.

The survey closes at midnight on Sunday 5 November.

If you have any questions, please email WholeSystemsObesity@hertfordshire.gov.uk.

Herts Sport & Physical Activity Partnership Annual Conference 2023

We are delighted to invite you to the Herts Sport & Physical Activity Partnership Annual Conference 2023, set to take place on Wednesday, December 6th, 2023, at the prestigious Fielder Centre in Hatfield.

View the video invitation from our Partnership Director, John O'Callaghan:-

Experience the Power of Our Active Local Approach

This year's conference is about celebrating the achievements and tackling the exciting challenges that have shaped our journey over the past year in our target areas. It's a day dedicated to networking and sharing, learning and upskilling and most importantly the invitation for you to join us on our place-based journey. And we've got an exceptional lineup to make it all happen.

Keynote Speaker: We're honoured to present Adam Rigarlsford, Director of Place Relationships at Sport England, as our keynote speaker—his insights and expertise promise to be a highlight of the day.

SIGN UP NOW

Engaging Workshops: As our esteemed guest, you can attend two workshops during the day. Here's a sneak peek at what's in store:

Workshops - 10:45 AM to 11:45 AM:

Using Data to Build a Picture of Our Active Local Communities - Led by Scott Hartley, Director of Press Red.
How We Can Help You Access Funding - Presented by Richard Sutcliffe, Director of Funding4Sport.
Place-Based Working - What Are We Talking About? - Guided by Chris Perks, former Sport England place-based Lead.
How to Increase Your Participant Reach - Hosted by Adam, CEO at GHO5T Marketing Agency.

Workshops - 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM:

Using Data to Build a Picture of Our Active Local Communities (Focus on Older Adults) - Led by Scott Hartley, Director of Press Red.
How We Can Help You Access Funding (Revisited) - Presented by Richard Sutcliffe, Director of Funding4Sport.
Place-Based Working - What Are We Talking About? (Revisited) - Guided by Chris Perks, former Sport England place-based Lead.
How to Capture Your Impact and Tell Your Story - Hosted by Adam, CEO at GHO5T Marketing Agency.

We're confident that these workshops will empower you with valuable knowledge and tools to make a real impact in your local communities.

Take advantage of this opportunity to network, learn, and be inspired alongside fellow passionate individuals and organisations.

Sign up now, December 6th, 2023, for a day of innovation, collaboration, and inspiration. Together, we'll shape a stronger future for our communities.

Stay tuned for further updates, and in the meantime, please feel free to reach out with any questions.

We look forward to welcoming you to the HSP Annual Conference 2023.

SIGN UP NOW

Cost of Living Webinars

Whether you interact with the public in your day job or as a volunteer, we understand how important it is that you can direct residents to trusted sources of help and advice in Hertfordshire when needed. Following the success and interest in last years webinar, we have decided to run the webinar again, with the latest updates and developments.

We have 2 dates for the event so please select the one which is best for you.

Supporting with the Cost of Living event - Wednesday 1 November 11am-12pm (hertfordshire.gov.uk)

Supporting with the Cost of Living event - Tuesday 7 November 2 - 3pm (hertfordshire.gov.uk) -
We will also be having a British Sign Language interpreter at this event.

This webinar will help you identify when a resident may need support, be able to signpost them to a trusted source of advice, and know when and how to refer someone who may need more in-depth support from one of our specialist services in the County. You'll hear from services including Citizens Advice, the Money Advice Unit, Age UK and other professionals in Hertfordshire offering support to residents facing an increased cost of living.

Household Support Fund

To further support households with the rising cost of living, the Government allocated £842m to Local Authorities in England to extend the Household Support Fund for a year. The scheme runs from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024. The Household Support Fund is there to help households most in need with the rising cost of living, including families, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers and disabled people.

Please help us with the promotion of the Household Support Fund Awareness Week by sharing the infographic below through your social media accounts or other channels, along with the copy:

“The Household Support Fund is there to help households most in need with the rising cost of living. We’ve spent our share of the £842 million funding from @GOVUK helping Hertfordshire communities. Those in need can find out more here: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/householdsupportfund”

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Thank you for your support.

Download your Mental Health Service Directory

This interactive PDF document provides links to services who provide a combination of early intervention and more specialist support for children and young people's mental health.

Download the PDF here

News from Services for Young People

Work experience placement begins a life-changing journey

SfYP helps a Hertfordshire business develop its workforce and enables a young person to secure their ideal apprenticeship.

A shining example of the life-changing impact our work with Hertfordshire businesses has on the lives of young people is a young person from the East Herts area who successfully secured his ideal apprenticeship with a housing maintenance company following his work experience placement.

Read the full story with images

Explore More+ programme to raise aspirations of young people across Hertfordshire

The new Services for Young People (SfYP) Explore More+ careers education programme is to be delivered in schools across the county following the success of the pilot programme in Stevenage.

The Explore More pilot programme was for Year 9 students with a Children in Need (CiN) or Child Protection (CP) plan and was successfully trialled in five Stevenage schools during the 2023 spring and summer terms. SfYP is now extending the programme to also include young people in care, who can join the programme from Year 7. The programme is now called Explore More+ and it will be delivered in schools across the whole county from the October 2023 half term.

Read the full story

Celebrating diversity and inclusion at Herts Pride 2023

More than 90 young people visited the Services for Young People stand at the annual Herts Pride community event at Cassiobury Park in Watford this August.

Herts Pride is Hertfordshire’s biggest LGBT+ celebration - a safe, inclusive and fun place for people from all backgrounds to come together and make a positive impact in their local area. The SfYP stand showcased our award-winning work with young LGBT+ people and raised awareness about the support we provide.

Read the full story

More news from SfYP

Do you know someone who needs help improving their maths skills

Step2Skills Multiply workshops aim to help adults improve their number skills through practical activities. The workshops can help with tasks in daily life and also offer the opportunity to gain a qualification to support career progression.

Who is eligible?

Multiply is for people who:

Live in Hertfordshire
Are aged 19 or above
Do not hold a GCSE (Grade C or above) or an equivalent qualification in maths

What is covered?

Examples of topics covered are:

Money management
Making sense of numbers in daily life
Understanding Excel
Developing numeracy skills for healthcare
Using numbers while cooking
Using numbers in music

Interested?

There are 14 learning providers who deliver the Step2Skills Multiply Project in Hertfordshire. To find one running near you, please visit the Services for Young People & Step2Skills website, where you can also find more detail about the project.

October 2023