Children and Young People Service (ChYPS) Newsletter

Issue No. 2

Winter 2007

DASH Playscheme Information

October School Holidays.

Unfortunately, due to funding restraints we will not be running a playscheme during the October holidays. As you are already aware we are focusing our resources on the main Summer and Easter school holidays, as agreed by the ChYPS Steering Group before the summer. We will however still continue to look for additional funding or sponsers to run other holiday schemes, and these will be organised if funding applications are successful.

Christmas School Holidays.

Funding has been secured to enable DASH to run a 2 day play session during the Christmas holidays. Due to the late break up for the school holidays the dates have been planned as follows:

Honey Bears and Busy Bugs: Thursday 5th January 2008

Activities to be confirmed.

The Buzz Playscheme : Friday 4th January 2008

Activities to be confirmed. (Possibly Bouldering at Eastbourne)

Funding for these holidays has been granted through the County Durham Foundation and enables DASH to provide a play session per site. These play sessions will be used to enable staff to consult with the children and young people who use our service to tell us what they think about play, and how they like to/would like to play in Darlington.

Steering Group Changes

The DASH steering group met prior to the summer holidays and has now decided to take on additional roles and become the central steering group for the Children and Young People Service. They will still be responsible for discussion and decision making for the DASH playscheme but will now look at other collective issues for the full ChYPS service including the Bridging service and will get regular updates from the Parents Forum.

The ChYPS Steering Group consists of parents of children and young people who have attended or are attending our services, and DAD. We are always keen to continue to look for new parents and carers to sit on the steering group and to feed into the planning, update and reviewing process of the ChYPS Service. If you would like to give a couple of hours of your time to support the group, on an evening, once every two months, then please get in contact with Garry West on 01325 360524 or email garry@darlingtondisability.org . We can help with childcare costs.

County Durham Service Level Contract.

Our contract with County Durham has recently been reviewed and we have agreed with officers the level of service we provide for children and young people from County Durham over the next year. In line with the changes that have been made to DASH holiday provision, the places that have been purchased will mainly be allocated during the Easter and Summer holiday playschemes.

Coleridge Centre Summer Play Days

DASH has been working in partnership with the Coleridge Children's Centre at Skerne Park. Two play days were organised during the summer and DASH staff provided the support to the children who attended. Each play day had a beach party and a Teddy Bears Picnic theme. The children all took part in the organised sports day and mini-Olympics events as well as ten pin bowling and inflatable darts competitions. They made a huge beach collage while others enjoyed parachute games or a chill-out in the multi-sensory room. The children also enjoyed an inclusive day trip with DASH to the Life Centre in Newcastle, where the children described their day as “mint” and “cool.” DASH plans to continue supporting the Play Days being organised at the Centre and hopes to enable the sessions to continue to work towards inclusion in the future.

Bridging Service

The Bridging service continues to provide opportunities for children to go to the play and leisure setting of their choice and has so far been very successful in supporting a number of children and young people in Darlington and County Durham to attend activities such as Karate, football coaching and after school clubs.

The support can be provided in a variety of ways;

• Short term individual one-to-one support to children to enable them overcome personal barriers to play and leisure;

• Support to parents/carers to overcome anxiety and other barriers faced by them to enabling their child to access mainstream play and leisure;

• Support to play and leisure providers to develop inclusive practice in supporting disabled children and young people into their services;

• Provision of training to play and leisure practitioners to raise awareness about inclusion and disability issues and to enable them to work with disabled children and their families more professionally.

If you would like more information on how the bridging service can support your child into mainstream play and leisure opportunities of their choice, please contact Garry on 01325 360524.

Volunteers - we need you!

Our playschemes rely heavily on the fantastic support we get from volunteers every year. Do you know someone who is 16 years or over? Can you give DASH a day or more of your school/college/university holiday break? Do you have the enthusiasm, commitment and motivation to support disabled and non-disabled children in an inclusive play environment? If you can then we want to hear from you.

You will need to complete an application form, provide references, undertake a CRB check, and be willing to take part in training. In return you will receive excellent training, the chance to make a difference and the opportunity to meet new friends. If you can spare between 1 or more days over the holiday periods then get in touch. Please contact Donna Gibson, Volunteer Co-ordinator on 01325 489999 or email donna@darlingtondisability.org for an application pack.

Fundraising/Funding

DAD Fundraising Group

D.A.D. has various fundraising opportunities within the organisation. To make sure we make the most out of our fundraising effort we are setting up a fundraising group. Would you like to participate? Do you have any good fundraising ideas? If you would like to get involved please contact Garry on 01325 360524.

Only Smarties have the answer!

A big thank you to everyone who took part in the ‘Only Smarties have the answer’ fundraiser. We raised over £150 to purchase some inclusive outdoor equipment for the playscheme.

Funds-4-Fun

KidsOut is the national charity providing fun and happiness for disadvantaged children and young people. They believe that fun and happiness is an essential part of childhood. Last year, they helped 5,700 children and young people through their Funds-4-Fun small grants scheme. Their grants help with the provision of new toys and specialist play equipment, as well as fun days out, holidays and activities for individuals and families.

To qualify for a KidsOut Funds-4-Fun grant, you need to be, or represent, a disabled child aged between 0 - 18 years and is disadvantaged in some way. For more information or an application form contact KidsOut on 01525 385232 or visit their website www.kidsout.org.uk

Other news from ChYPS

Direct Payments

The Direct Payment Support Service promotes choice and control by supporting anyone who is eligible, including parents of disabled children, to use a Direct Payment to organise their own package of care. This includes a payroll and recruitment service. For more information contact Simon Legg at DAD on 01325 360524 or simon@darlingtondisability.org

Parents Forum

The Parents Forum provides a voice for parents in planning and developing services for disabled children and young people. The forum meets regularly to exchange information and discuss issues that affect parents. Speakers provide an opportunity for parents to share information directly with service providers. For more Information contact Chris Thwaites at DAD on 01325 489999 or email chris@darlingtondisability.org

As the Parents Forum and DASH have now come together under DAD's ChYPS service, we would like to make sure all parents on the DASH database are receiving information about the Parents Forum events. If you do not wish to receive this information then please contact Chris Thwaites on 01325 489999 or email chris@darlingtondisability.org

Other news and information

Darlington Access for All Award

Darlington Association on Disability in partnership with Darlington Borough Council is holding the ‘Darlington Access for All Award’ for the 5th year. The award will be made to the business or organisation that has demonstrated a commitment to ensure that their building or open space is accessible to all and that their organisation's culture embraces accessibility in all of its forms.

Darlington Association on Disability is pleased to continue working with Darlington Borough Council in its bid to eliminate social exclusion and we are delighted that the Mayor has agreed to present the award before our A.G.M. on the 22nd November 2007 in the Central Hall at the Dolphin Centre.

Every Disabled Child Matters Campaign

Every Disabled Child Matters (EDCM) is the campaign to get rights and justice for every disabled child. EDCM is the campaign to put this right. EDCM want all disabled children and their families to have the right to the services and support they need to live ordinary lives.

EDCM is an inclusive campaign. They support and represent thousands of disabled children, young people and families. Through CDC and SEC, the campaign represents hundreds of organisations, professionals, and disabled people working with and for disabled children, young people and their families. To find out more and sign up to the EDCM campaign now at www.edcm.org.uk

Drop In Support Group

This support group takes place monthly from 3.30 - 4.30pm at Skerne Park Childrens Centre at the Coleridge Centre and is for all children with additional needs and their families. Dates for meetings up to Christmas are as follows:

Thursday 1st November 2007, 29th November 2007 and 13th December 2007

If you require any further information please contact the Children's Centre on 01325 248020.

CAB Appointments

Shelagh Blanchard, the Citizen's Advice Bureau's Outreach Worker is once again able to offer parents and carers of disabled children advice on benefits, housing, relationships, debt, and any other life problems. She is available on Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment only. To book your session please call DAD on 01325 489999 and ask for Pauline Gill.

Live Darlington Card

Parents of disabled children are entitled to this card which offers free entry into Leisure or Arts facilities/venues across the Borough when accompanying the person being cared for, and a 25% discount when a carer is using a facility without the person they are caring for. To apply for a card please contact the Dolphin Centre on 01325 388410.