Darlington AssociationChildren Guide
Much of the information contained in other sections of this guide is relevant to people of all ages.
There are also services, information and support groups that focus specifically on the needs of children and young people up to the age of nineteen years.
Contents
Local Services
Information and Support
Local Leisure Providers
Other Sources of Information
Contacts
Local Services
Darlington Borough Council has a Children's Service, which brings together Social Services Children's teams, Early Years services and the Education Department under one Director. Many local services for disabled children and their families are co-ordinated from Harewood House in Darlington, which has been developed jointly by Social Services, Health, Education and Barnados.
The Disabled Children's Team at Harewood House identifies the needs of disabled children and their families and arranges support to meet these needs. This may involve an assessment of the child and the family to find out what sort of support might be needed.
The Disabled Children's Team may also support with information or advice; work with other services like health, housing or voluntary groups; counselling; finding resources and access to respite and other services following an assessment.
Harewood Hill Lodge is a purpose built short break centre for disabled children. The Lodge is behind Harewood House and provides 4 single bedrooms, a specially adapted bathroom, a large sitting room and kitchen. There is also a large garden to the rear of the building. The length of time children may stay at the Lodge vary from overnight to a couple of days.
Return to ContentsInformation and Support
Contact a Family is a UK-wide charity providing support, advice and information for families with disabled children. It provides detailed information on support groups and rare medical conditions. CAF also produce a number of publications, including a ‘Parents’ Guide to Parent Participation - improving services for disabled children which is free.
Darlington Children's Information Service (CIS) provides childcare information to parents, carers and employers in the Darlington area. CIS has a database of registered and approved childcare providers in the area. This service includes parents of disabled children who may require childcare.
The Education Centre for Children with Down Syndrome runs an Early Development Group for pre-school children and their parents, weekly during term-time. They also have a school-Age group for 4-11 year old children. Both sessions are run in Darlington at Darlington Education Village, Salters Lane South and take children from Darlington and the surrounding area including County Durham, Tyne & Wear, Cleveland and North Yorkshire.
The Centre provides small-group activities designed to promote the social, motor, cognitive and language development of children with Down syndrome. It also offers Individual advice for parents on activities to promote their child's development and informal support from other parents and families.
The Parent Partnership in Darlington can assist if your child is going through the process of having a statement of educational needs for support at school. It provides advice through trained Independent Parental Supporters.
The service runs an advice line on Mondays and Tuesdays and can be contacted regarding all aspects of advice relating to special educational needs.
The service also produces a termly newsletter with information for parents/carers, schools and support organisations. Contact the service to obtain a copy of the service leaflet, directory of support and voluntary groups or a range of information sheets on a variety of subjects from annual reviews to organising your paperwork.
The Parents Forum, run by Darlington Association on Disability (DAD) is a group that gives parents of disabled children an opportunity to share information and influence local planning. The Forum feeds into the Childrens Trust Board, which makes decisions about Childrens Services in Darlington. The Parents Forum also provides information, advice and support to parents of disabled children.
DAD also runs a Direct Payments Support Service, which supports parents wanting to use a Direct Payment to organise a package of care following an assessment by Children's Services.
County Durham Autistic Support Group is a parent run charity, providing advice, information and support for families. It runs an informal advice line available to anyone. Monthly meetings are held at Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Stanley and Crook. Children are welcome. The group organises regular conferences and hosts workshops for parents and professionals.
Return to ContentsLocal Leisure Providers
A variety of leisure opportunities are provided by organisations specifically for children and young disabled people.
DASH (Darlington After School and Holiday Playcare) is run by Darlington Association on Disability (D.A.D) and offers playcare during school holidays. DASH can also support individual children who would like to try other leisure or sports activities.
Other weekly youth club sessions for children with a learning difficulty run at Beaumont Hill School andDarlington Gateway Club.
The Dolphin Centre, run by Darlington Borough Council, provides many sports and leisure activities for children, and is taking steps to improve access to its services by disabled children. They run a Sportsability programme which gives disabled children an opportunity to try out a variety of sports in a safe and supportive setting.
The Inclusive Opportunities Fund supports disabled children to access mainstream leisure activities. An application form needs to be completed by parents, professionals or providers to apply to the fund on behalf of a disabled child. The fund could provide funding for short-term support workers, specialist equipment or staff / volunteer training. All applications are considered by a multi-agency panel. For more information and an application pack contact the fund administrator,
Other Sources of Information
Other sections of the Darlington Association on Disability Information Guide may contain further information relevant to children.
The Arts, leisure and Sports section includes details of local leisure opportunities for children.
The Education section of this guide gives information relating to education and disabled children.
The Money Matters section of this guide for information about benefits which children may be eligible for.
Contact Darlington Association on Disability's information service for help with searching for information about any subject in this guide or any we haven't thought about.
There are a number of local and national organisations providing broad information and advice resources. Please refer to this guide's Introduction for contact details.
Contact Darlington Association on Disability's Information Service for assistance with searching for information about any subject in this guide or for support in dealing with your information requests.
Return to ContentsContacts
Beaumont Hill School & Technology College
Darlington Educational Village
Salters Lane South
Darlington DL1 2AN
Telephone : 01325 254000
Fax : 01325 254222
Minicom :
E-mail : admin@educationvillage.org.uk
Website : www.educationvillage.org.uk
Disabled Childrens Team
Initial contact via -
Darlington Childrens Services
Access and Contact team
Central House
Gladstone Street
Darlington DL3 6JX
Telephone : 01325 346200
Fax: 01325 346474
Minicom : 01325 360862
E-mail :
Website : www.darlington.gov.uk
Contact a Family
209 - 211 City Road
London EC1V 1JN
Telephone : 020 7608 8700
Helpline : 0808 808 3555
Fax : 020 7608 8701
Minicom : 0808 808 3556
E-mail : info@cafamily.org.uk
Website : www.cafamily.org.uk
County Durham Autistic Support Group
PO Box 35
Spennymoor
County Durham DL16 7WY
Telephone : 01388 819880
Fax :
Minicom :
E-mail: helen.geldard@cdasg.org.uk
Website : www.cdasg.org.uk
Darlington After School and Holiday Playcare
Darlington Association on Disability
Enterprise House
Valley Street
Darlington DL1 1GY
Telephone : 01325 360524
Fax :
Minicom : 01325 245061
E-mail : mail@darlingdisability.org
Website : www.darlingtondisability.org
Darlington Association on Disability Direct Payments Service
Enterprise House
Valley Street
Darlington DL1 1GY
Telephone : 01325 360524
Fax : 01325 267338
Minicom :
E-mail : mail@darlingdisability.org
Website : www.darlingtondisability.org
Darlington Association on Disability Parents Forum
20-22 Horsemarket
Darlington DL1 5PT
Telephone : 01325 489999
Fax : 01325 488188
Minicom : 01325 245061
E-mail : chris@darlingdisability.org
Website : www.darlingtondisability.org
Darlington Children's Information Service
Room 22
Town Hall
Darlington DL1 5QD
Telephone : 0800 9172121
Fax :
Minicom :
E-mail : cis@darlington.gov.uk
Website : www.childcarelink.gov.uk
Darlington Gateway Club
Salters Lane
Darlington
Darlington Parent Partnership Service
Harewood House
14 Harewood Hill
Darlington DL3 7HY
Telephone / Fax: 01325 254548
Minicom :
Email : parent.partnership@darlington.gov.uk
Website :
Dolphin Centre
Darlington Borough Council
Horsemarket
Darlington DL1 5RP
Telephone : 01325 388406
Fax : 01325 369400
Minicom : 01325 380786
Email : leisure.services@darlington.gov.uk
Website : www.darlington.gov.uk
Education Centre for Children with Downs Syndrome
Telephone : 07806 707465
E-mail : king_maggie@hotmail.com
Website : www.eccds.org.uk
Harewood Hill Lodge
15 Harewood Hill
Darlington DL3 7HY
Telephone : 01325 254377
Fax :
Minicom :
Email : angela.reith@darlington.gov.uk
Website : www.darlington.gov.uk
Inclusive Opportunities Fund
Fund Administrator
Harewood House
14 Harewood Hill
Darlington
DL3 7HY
Telephone : 01325 254576
Fax : 01325 254482
Minicom :
Email: inclusiveopportunities@darlington.gov.uk
Website : www.darlington.gov.uk/Education/inclusiveopportunitiesfund.htm