Our Children - 18 April

Welcome to the Our Children Network Newsletter – Spring Edition
 
We are putting together the agenda for our next meeting on Wednesday 29th May and would like to offer the opportunity for you to come along and share your work.

We have a couple of spaces available for you to share a short presentation or call to action with the network. This is a great opportunity to let other practitioners in Renfrewshire know about your service and what support you offer for children, young people and their families.

If you don’t have anything to share at this time but would still like to be actively involved in supporting the network, you could host the meeting? If you have space to accommodate up to 25 people and can allow use of the room from 9:30am – 12:30pm on 29/05/2024, we would love to hear from you. We’ll provide the tea and biscuits!

If you can support the network by sharing your work, or providing a space please contact:

Jane Hamilton – email: jhamilton@engagerenfrewshire.com             
mobile: 07841426511

 

Our meetings in 2024

Save the date:

29 May 2024 10am – 12pm Venue TBC
28 August 2024 10am – 12pm Venue TBC
20 November 2024 10am – 12pm Venue TBC

Empowering Parents. Empowering Communities (EPEC)

Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities (EPEC) parent groups are delivered to 8-12 parents over 8 weekly two-hour sessions by two certified EPEC peer facilitator group leaders. Sessions cover strengthening the parent-child relationship through positive communication, developing parental sensitivity, safe care, and child-led play, alongside behaviour management tools grounded in social learning theory.
 
Registration for these groups will remain open for the next 2 weeks please contact lesleycompston@klascare.com or epeclinwood@gmail.com or call 01505331931 and ask for Lesley.
 
Being a Parent Course (BAP) Commencing  17 April 2024 - 10am 12 - from The Hive in UWS Paisley -- This 2 hours a session for 8 sessions is aimed at parents with children aged 3-11 years old:
Groups are highly interactive, involving an engaging and creative blend of small and large group discussion, role play, demonstrations, information sharing and reflection. Parents practice and use new skills in everyday life to achieve specific goals. Groups are facilitated by parent group leaders. If interested please email epeclinwood@gmail.com
 
Parent Group Leaders (PGL) training commencing 19 April 2024 - 9:30-2:30 - from The Hive in UWS Paisley. This 12 week course is aimed at parents that have completed the Being A Parent (BAP) course (this is not essential) the Trainers(me) interview the potential PGL's and ascertain if they are suitable and willing to adopt the EPEC ethos and be monitored and evaluated by the trainers. The trainers are responsible for supervision
and gathering the learning journals so they can be sent off to the national team for validation.  EPEC Being a Parent Group Leader: If interested please contact epeclinwood@gmail.com 
 
Being a Parent Autism: commencing 16th of April 2024 -18:30-19:45 - online. This course is aimed at parents with children of any age that have a diagnosis or are waiting for a diagnosis for Autism.  
The EPEC Being a Parent – Autism course focuses on: The experience of being a parent of a child affected by Autism, their family and siblings Understanding their child and the ways in which they are affected by Autism. It will Encourage positive communication, interaction and play between the child and the parent/carer. We introduce everyday strategies and routines to influence development and manage the effects of Autism on children. We address ways to manage behaviour and meet children’s needs, preventing, managing and recovering from meltdowns. BAP – Autism is designed to provide accessible, enjoyable and effective community-based parenting support and is designed to promote children’s development and skills, reduce child and family difficulties, improve parent confidence, skills and satisfaction, as well as improve social and community connectedness. 
Families coming to courses may be at different stages in their journey. Some families may have recently received confirmation that their child has Autism. While other families may be several years into life following their child’s diagnosis, joining a community-based group like EPEC connects the dots and aids community understanding and connections.  Every week on Tuesday until 18 June 2024. 

Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Weekly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZIofumrpj4vE9SEzlmdyp6jct0IeI2zJfZI/ics?icsToken=98tyKuGuqzIqGdyQtRCHRpwAGYr4c-nxiCVYj_puuQXpDiRKclX8NfYSG7dWQsL6
 
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86590385590?pwd=eDQ2cjI3UmdnNEcrZjlmWEMxMHU4Zz09
 
Meeting ID: 865 9038 5590
Passcode: V5xFfq

Routes Renfrewshire

Routes is a service for young people age 12-26 affected by family alcohol or drug use. Routes is a young person co produced programme offering positive relationships and opportunities through different activities. Our aim is to alleviate stress and improve wellbeing in young people at disadvantage. 

       

Funding

The Robertson Trust are looking to sharpen the focus of their funds, to ensure they are achieving their strategic aims of understanding and alleviating the effects of poverty and trauma on our society. To enable them to do this they will be closing to new applications at midday on Friday 31 May 2024. A new look version of the funds will open in September 2024. You can read more here 


Apply for funding from our Local Partnerships - Renfrewshire Website 
We want to support projects that bring communities together around their shared priorities for where they live. 
We believe that communities that work together and share resources provide a stronger and more sustainable impact. 
We want applications from projects that demonstrate how they connect with their communities, make best use of the existing skills and assets in an area, and will provide the biggest possible impact to those who need it most. 

Please be aware that we always have more applications than we're able to fund, so Local Partnerships will prioritise awards based on their Local Priorities, and the projects they feel will have the most impact for people in their local area. 

• Awards of up to £5,000 are available for voluntary and community organisations. 
• Applications can be submitted to more than one Local Partnerships. 
• Awards are for local activities and projects which bring communities together. 
• Each Local Partnership has its own Local Priorities for this area. Applications should clearly show how they contribute to the Local Priorities in the area they are applying.  

Find out more

Funding to Support Challenged & Vulnerable Young People
Grants of up to £1,500 are available to charitable organisations supporting challenged and vulnerable young people under the age of 16 in the UK.  The 7stars Foundation’s Social Impact Grants Programme will provide funding for projects which support young people living in areas of deprivation and socioeconomic disadvantage who are challenged by abuse or addiction, who are young carers, or who are homeless. A maximum of three charities will be shortlisted. The closing date for applications is the 30th April 2024 for the June funding review.  Find out more

Small Grants for Summer Playschemes
Grants of between £500 and £1,000 are available to registered charities across the UK to fund summer playschemes for disadvantage children between the ages of 5-16 years. Charities with an annual income of less than £100,000 can apply for funding to run playschemes for a minimum of two weeks or ten days during the summer holidays. Priority will be given to small, local schemes involving a large number of children especially those with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds. If the applicant is not a registered charity, then a registered charity may apply on the scheme’s behalf. The funding is being made available through the Woodward Charitable Trust’s Summer Playscheme. The closing date for applications has been extended from 05 April to 19 April 2024.  Find out more

Research and Reports

Children at the Table Campaign
In preparation for an upcoming general election, five UK children's charities, including Action for Children, Barnardo's, The Children's Society, the National Children's Bureau, and NSPCC, have united. Their collective goal is to ensure that the next government prioritises the needs of babies, children, and young people by incorporating their perspectives into policy-making. Now, Children in Scotland have also joined this campaign, advocating for the inclusion of children's voices and concerns in political discussions.
Learn more and watch the campaign video


One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) - Impact Report
OPFS routinely gathers insights from single parents throughout Scotland. Utilizing their five local services, national advisory and informational services, as well as online support platforms, they address critical issues facing single-parent familiesTheir latest report highlights recent shifts in social security benefits, known as "Managed Migration," initiated by the UK Government. This process involves transitioning individuals receiving legacy benefits to Universal Credit. Read the report


Scottish Government announce £30 million mental health funding following youth-led report on support and services
The Scottish Government has announced a £30 million allocation for community-based mental health initiatives in response to an independent report commissioned by the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP). This funding encompasses two main initiatives: the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults, and the Children and Young People's Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports funds, both receiving £15 million for the 2024-25 period. These funds aim to bolster various groups and services across the nation, addressing mental health needs in diverse communities.
More info  

Training

Renfrewshire HSCP Health Improvement Team are delighted to share a new Vaping & Tobacco awareness raising course.

The course will be delivered by LANDED which is a young persons' charity who work with young people to promote messages of harm reduction on topics such as; Tobacco, drugs, cannabis, alcohol and sexual health. As part of their services they provide staff training opportunities to build the knowledge, understanding and confidence of staff members who work directly with young people.

This course aims to provide anyone working with young people the knowledge and tools to critically discuss and explore the topic of tobacco and electronic cigarette (vape) use.
We have 2 courses running on the following dates:

• Tues 4 June – 10.30am - 4pm at Tweedie Hall, Bridge Street, Linwood, PA3 3DB
• Thurs 13 June – 10.30am – 4pm at Renfrew Health & Social Care Centre, 10 Ferry Road, Renfrew, PA4 8RU

If you would like to book a place for yourself or your staff please email:
HealthImprovement.Renfrewshire@ggc.scot.nhs.uk with your name, organisation, contact details and which date you prefer.
Please note this course is free of charge to participants, however please provide your own refreshments/lunch.