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Children & Young People

This page is intended to carry information on important legislation and other documents related to the Change for Children Agenda and the creation of Children's Trusts. You will also find information on local events, family services and other items of interest.

	Events
	Commissioning
	Consultations
	Funding
	Projects
	Training, Skills & Knowledge
	Useful Websites & Documents

NEWS - The Children’s Centre Service management team at the newly refurbished Foxhill community centre looking for organisations interested in delivering services from the centre from September 08. Please email Julia_finney@bathnes.gov.uk or phone St Martins Garden Children's Centre on 01225 396002.

Events

B&NES School's Out - holiday activity listings 28 July - 2 Sept 08 - click here

Advocacy Community of Practice
For all services providing advocacy for children & young people, there is a new Community of Practice in the South West region for practitioners to get together and share ideas - more details. Please contact Daniel Moore if you or a member of your staff would like to attend a meeting. Tel: 0117 937 5527

Independent Safeguarding Authority Roadshows

Changes to the vetting laws for those wishing to work or volunteer with vulnerable people are set to take place in autumn 2009 with the Introduction of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). Under the new system, all people wishing to work or volunteer with vulnerable people will need to register with the ISA. The ISA is runs a series of free information roadshows to explain to employers and volunteer organisers in these sectors how the new scheme will impact on their business. At these sessions there will be more details about the way the ISA will operate, including the costs, and providing time for questions and answers. There are currently no confirmed future information roadshows. However, further events will be scheduled for later on this year. To learn more please visit the ISA website

Alcohol and Young People Summit: Breaking the Cycle of Binge-Drinking, Anti-Social Behaviour and Violence Thursday 17 July - The IMechE, One Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London - One day conference organised by The Centre fpr Parliamentary Studies. Speakers include: Matthew Scott, Substance Misuse Team Leader, Young People at Risk Division, Department for Children, Schools and Families, Chief Inspector Adrian Studd, Head of Licensing, Metropolitan Police Service, Derek Allen, Executive Director, LACORS, Tony Goodall, Alcohol and Substance Misuse Lead, Leeds Primary Care Trust, Stephen Hogg, Policy Adviser, The Wine and Spirit Trade Association. Some of the themes to be addressed at the conference include:
An Action Plan to Change Attitudes and Behaviour
Empowering the Police to Deliver Tougher Enforcement
Tackling Alcohol-Related Violence and Disorder Through Local Partnerships
Alcohol Awareness, Education in Schools and Early Intervention
Local Licensing Regulations, The Alcohol Retail Industry, and Advertising
Costs are £295 per delegate for Third Sector organisations. For further details and to book please see the official website.

Peasedown talents to amuse - If you live in Peasedown or nearby, Peasedown Opportunity Project (with nesa) are holding a contest to find out who can tell the best tale (tall or otherwise) or give a speech like an actor. Get a chance to rehearse your peice with professional playwright Shaun McCarthy. To get involved either contact nesa on 01761 437251 or go along to the Peasedown Village Fun Day anytime on Saturday 5th of July, where you can find out more. The rehearsal day will be Friday 12th September, the Contest itself on Friday 19th September.

Also Drama Summer School for 11-18 year olds - Monday 18th – Friday 22nd August 2008, 10am – 5pm daily. Run by Shaun McCarthy this is a week-long drama summer school for young people who live in or very near Peasedown. FREE PLACES AVAILABLE. Further details of both events - click here

Playday 2008 is on Wednesday 6 August - Playday is the annual celebration of children's right to play. On Playday and throughout the summer of 2008, thousands of children, young people and communities will get out and play at hundreds of locally organised events across the UK. Play England are putting together a resource list which will assist people with planning for Playday 2008. The title for this years Playday is 'Give us a go' and the theme is around risk. They are seeking organisations, individuals, projects and arts groups who may be interested in helping organisations around the South West with Playday - this could include extreme sports, clowns, storytellers, bushcraft, fire making etc. The playday website gives a number of resources for organisers including information on finding funding www.playday.org.uk.

Participation: The Essential Tools and Resources - Thursday 18th September, London. A one day conference, hosted by Participation Works, exploring the use of the tools and resources available to support the participation of children and young people in a range of settings. There will also be an opportunity to discuss specific participation issues through a number of workshops. For details please see Event Flyer. For further information and to book on-line, please visit www.participationworks.org.uk

The Children in Care Symposium: Breaking the Cycle of Exclusion and Disadvantage. Thurs 25 September 10:15 - 3:40 in Westminster. Recognising the need to address the cycle of exclusion and disadvantage suffered by more than 60,000 young people in the care system, the Government has reaffirmed its commitment to fulfil the potential of all children in care with the introduction, earlier this year, of Care Matters: Time for Change. This implementation plan sets out the practical steps that Local Authorities, in partnership with other agencies, need to take to turn the Care Matters vision of stability and raising aspirations into reality. Full details from official website.

NCVCCO have a useful timetable of events please follow this link to the NCVCCO website.

Consultations

Fair Play: A consultation on the play strategy. A commitment in The Children's Plan. The strategy will aim for ‘children, young people and their families to take an active role in the development of local play spaces; and that play places are attractive, welcoming, engaging and accessible for all local children and young people, including disabled children, children of both genders, and children from minority groups in the community’. More background information on the Play England website. Access the consultation on the Dept for Children Schools and Families (DfES) website. Closing Date 18 July 2008.

Government Office South West (GOSW) held two regional events supporting the consultation on Fair Play. They were held in Bristol on 3 June and Exeter on 5 June. The consultation sought views on proposals to create more and better opportunities for all children to play, building on the framework and investment laid out in the Children's Plan. For more information please go to www.playengland.org.uk.

Preparing for an Olympic Legacy, which is not all about sport.Do you have any projects that you are currently working on or planning for the future in the areas of: Young people’s involvement in sport and culture, Volunteering or Enterprise skills. The local authority is putting in a bid, deadline later this week (14 -18 July) – so any information/ideas would be gratefully received. Please contact Alison Baker Alison_Baker@bathnes.gov.uk

Funding

Futurebuilders launches new Tender Fund - Futurebuilders England has launched a new interest-free loan fund for third sector organisations struggling to meet the cost of tendering for public sector contracts. The £1m Tender Fund is intended to help third sector providers win contracts where prohibitive tendering costs would otherwise make it difficult for them to bid. More details.

Developing the Children's Workforce. NAVCA's small grants project offers grants to support individuals to undertake training and to fund good practice exchange visits. For details please visit the NAVCA website.

Big Lottery Young People’s Fund 2: Local grants - The programme is open to voluntary and community sector organisations providing the chance for young people to lead on developing the activities and services that they want in their local area. Grants are between £10,000 and £500,000 to support activities and services lasting between 1 and 5 years. Up to £50,000 can be applied for to develop land or buildings on developments costing no more than £200,000 in total. Up to £38 million is available to support projects across England - grants will only be granted where young people lead from start to finish. Application closing date: 16 October 2008. More details.

Need Help In Involving Young People? Big Lottery have contracted Participation Works to provide support to organisations around the involvement and participation of young people. They have developed a range of services that voluntary and community sector organisations can access free of charge. See www.participationworks.org.uk

YouthBank Funding for 2008-9
Government funding for the Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund has been confirmed for the next three years (2008-11). Each fund has approx £80,000 a year to give in grants to projects designed by and for young people aged 13-19. Details.

myplace - are a major non-lottery funded programme who are distributing and managing up to £190 million over two years on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), with the aim of delivering world class youth facilities that are driven by the active participation of young people. See details on the Funding Page.

UnLtd Sport Relief Awards - This UK wide funding programme is for 11-21 year olds, who are prepared to use their passion for sport to bring respect and understanding to their communities by setting up their own projects.Funding of £250-£5,000 is available. Applicants will need to have a project advisor such as a teacher, youth worker or parent who will help them with the application and support them with their project. UnLtd provide support to those receiving their grants and offer other opportunities such as training and networking events. . For details and application forms please see the UnLtd website.

The Innovation Exchange Next Practice Programme works with third sector innovation in relation to independent living and excluded young people. 'We aim to help third sector innovators to develop, evaluate and grow their work. 'We will do this by offering both generic in-kind support - coaching support and a small number of events - and bespoke support, designed around projects’ particular characteristics.' Applicants could also be eligible for grant funding of up to £50,000 from an associated programme run by the NESTA. . Expressions of interest must be received before 5.00pm on 31st July, 2008. http://innovation-exchange.org/next-practice-programme

Commissioning Opportunities

Bath and North East Somerset’s Children’s Services has published the arrangements for submitting expressions of interest and submitting tenders on a range of extended services on the Council's website : www.bathnes.gov.uk/LAPCommissioning. Services will be focused on (1) emotional well-being, (2) positive activities, and (3) parenting support. The three Steering Groups have agreed to receive bids for all three specifications. The overall budget is £630,000 over two years. Deadline for expressions of interest. Friday 20th June 2008
Deadline for submission of tenders. Monday 28th July 2008.
Panel to evaluate tender responses individually. From Monday 28th July 2008 to September 2008
Panel meet to evaluate tender responses and shortlist (if applicable) September 2008 TBA *
Presentations of short-listed providers (if applicable) September 2008 TBA *
Panel to make recommendation of awards to LAP Steering Groups. September 2008 TBA *
Providers informed of decision to award.Wednesday 1st October 2008 or sooner dependant on when panel can meet.
Target for new contract to start. Monday 3rd November 2008

The contact officer in Children's Services is Amber Gillani, Commissioning and Contracts Manager, Early Years and Extended Services, 01225 394284, amber_gillani@bathnes.gov.uk.

The Bidding Guidance for the Intensive Intervention Projects For Young People is now available.
Intensive Intervention Projects (IIPs) target 1,000 of the most challenging young people every year, using the 'triple track' approach and applying lessons from Family Intervention Projects. Organisations from all sectors are eligible to bid to DCSF to establish an IIP. The allocation process will identify twenty organisations that will receive funding of up to £650,000 for up to three years to develop an IIP. Grants will be paid by direct grant in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Expressions of interest should be submitted using the form at Annex A of the information and bidding guidance, to be submitted no later than 5.00pm on 8 August 2008.

The Guidance and Bidding Guidance can be downloaded from: www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/youthmatters/ytf

Projects

BANES CVS has a database list of voluntary sector organisations and groups working with children and young people. To obtain a full list of organisational names please click here. For data protection reasons we cannot supply a list of contact details here but we are in the process of developing a Directory of Services for the Voluntary Sector. If you wish your organisation to be included in this Directory please contact sue.evans@banescvs.org.uk.

NVCCO South West Network Discontinued. Over the last year attendance at the network meetings has been poor and the view of the regular attendees is that there is now more support for people at locality level. The geography of the South West region makes it hard to have regional meetings without a large input of time from people and it has been decided that the investment of time was no longer repaid by the benefits of regular meetings. The VCS Engage programme is continuing.

BATH AREA PLAY PROJECT (BAPP)

BAPP provides a range of inclusive and accessible play opportunities for children in their own communities. Playschemes are provided in the more deprived areas of the authority where there is little access to children’s activities. Open-access holiday playschemes run in the Spring and Summer school holidays at Southside, Odd Down, Foxhill and Weston. Closed access inclusive holiday playscheme at Twerton during Spring and Summer school holidays. Transport may be provided to enable disabled children to access this setting. Teenage Rampage - a weekly club for disabled teenagers aged 13 - 19 years from 7-9pm every Tuesday evening. Stay 'n' Play is held on the 1st Saturday of every month for families where there is a disabled child, Crèche at The Hut runs term time only from 9am - 3pm Monday to Friday and is open to all children from birth to school age. They also run daily crèches during term time, that run from 9am to 3pm for those who live in the Twerton area. Other facilities include: the TURTLE Toy Library at The Hut and BAPP hosts the Play Network which provides playworkers with regular training and support through network sessions held across B&NES 8 times a year. For more details: see BAPP website.

Play England - provides advice and support to promote good practice, and works to ensure that the importance of play is recognised by policy makers, planners and the public. Details of services, activities and support available from regional Play England teams are found on the website: click here

CHILD-SAFE

Child-Safe is a registered international children and young person's charity involved in travel, sport, community groups and specific school programmes. The initiative originated from work within the Avon and Somerset Constabulary and aims to empower young people by promoting good practice, providing support and advice to parents, organisers, volunteers, schools and, most importantly, children and young people themselves. Child-Safe holds free seminars across the B&NES District, which are open to clubs and organisations working with children. Tara Savage, Child-Safe Co-ordinator based at Bath Police Station, said: “All adults have a duty of care for the children they work with and it is good practice to have a child protection policy within your club or organisation to help prevent potential offenders from accessing children. Anyone attending a Child-safe seminar will receive an Information and Resource pack that will enable them to develop and implement an effective child protection scheme. Organisers, leaders and parents can feel reassured that child protection will be taken seriously within such clubs.” The next seminar will be held on Wednesday 17th September in the Somerdale Room at Frys Club in Keynsham from 18.30pm to 20.00pm. To book a place on the seminar please contact Tara Savage on 01225 842473 or email tara.savage@avonandsomerset.police.uk.

The Supported Lodgings Scheme Many young people leaving the care system or who can no longer live at home are aged just 16 or 18. Evidence from research and young people’s accounts of their experiences show that they are often just not ready, or able, to cope on their own. The Supported Lodgings Scheme gives young people the opportunity to develop the practical skills and emotional stability they will need to live independently and achieve their full potential.
Details.

Pathways, is part of Shape Housing association, and provides floating support for up to 15 young people (aged 16-25 years) at a time providing practical and emotional support to help them live independently and maintain tenancies Further information from Ally Clarke on 01225 339330.

Cook It

The ‘Cook it’ project works with families across Bath & North East Somerset to improve the diet of pre-school children.

For details click here.

Training, Skills & Knowledge

The Children's Workforce Learning Network (CWLN) has been established in the South West region to support staff working with children and young people and their families in the various Voluntary and Community sectors. Visit the website. Children's Workforce Learning Network Summer Training Programme - click here. There is also a regular Newsletter - please find the most recent version here.

Involve more young volunteers with training from do-it.org.uk
YouthNet, is offering bespoke training to help organisations recruit, involve and create volunteering opportunities for 16-25 year olds. The training is available free to charities who publicise their volunteering opportunities on YouthNet's volunteering website. Contact Felicity Jones: 020 7250 5724 felicity.jones@youthnet

You've Got The Right - Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) have launched a new advice service for children on human rights and equality law in England. Information for children about the service is available - click here. Further promotional materials will be available in due course. Any enquiries can be addressed to Katy Swaine, Legal Director, CRAE ks@crae.org.uk

Sexual Health Training - free to anyone working with young people in Bath & North East Somerset. Training Booklet.

The Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has a CD Rom to support groups with Integrated Working. As well as guidance on different aspects of integrated work there are also quick guides in the form of simple fact sheets. The CD Rom can be obtained by calling the integrated team on 0113 244 6311 or emailing: integratedworking@cwdcouncil.org.uk.

The Interagency Safeguarding Children Training Programme These courses offered by B&NES Local Safeguarding Children's Board are available to the voluntary and community Sector. we are waiting for details of the current programme (Summer 2008) which will be loaded onto the Training Site when available.

The Sexual Exploitation of Children and the Internet - one day training course. The growth of social networking sites has provided paedophiles with previously unheard of opportunities to groom children for sexual exploitation. This training offers key information to those who work with children and have responsibilies regarding their safety.The course trainers have a background in child protection and have investigated this kind of exploitation. Dates: 30th September 2008 (Gloucester), 25th November 2008 (Tiverton), 5th March 2009 (Swindon). For more information contact: Liz Bennett 0117 937 500 tlcinfosouthwest@barnardos.org.uk

The National Deaf Children's Society Regional Officers Forum. This is a proposed network for Regional Officers or Family Support Officers working with deaf children and young people in the South West to discuss problems and share good practice. The first meeting is likely to be in February 2008. Please contact Yvonne Sewell for further information ysewell@ndcs.org.uk

Free Hear By Right Workshops - These workshops are designed to provide information about using the Hear by Right standards framework to draw up a map of the current participation of children and young people in organisations, and to create an agreed strategic plan for improvement. The workshops will be followed up with Local Learning Groups. These will offer key staff further local support and a forum in which to share learning and experience about using the Hear by Right Self-Assessment Tool and address the barriers and solutions to improved participation practice. It is recommended that you use the self-assessment tool Hear by Right to check that your project can meet the minimum standards of youth involvement before completing an application to YPF 2” – Guidance from the Big Lottery Fund for applicants to Young People’s Fund 2. Dates May - 25 September 2008. Details

Is Your Club Child-Safe? Child protection seminar - Wed 17 September Child-Safe is a registered international children and young person's charity involved in travel, sport, community groups and specific school programmes. The Child-Safe initiative in Bath & NE Somerset is about empowering young people, improving care and reducing opportunities of abuse in its widest sense. Anyone attending a Child-safe seminar will receive an Information and Resource pack that will enable them to develop and implement an effective child protection scheme. The seminar will be held in the Somerdale Room at Frys Club in Keynsham from 18.30pm to 20.00pm. To book a place please contact Tara Savage on 01225 842473 or email tara.savage@avonandsomerset.police.uk.

The Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children's Workforce sets out the basic skills and knowledge needed by people (including volunteers) whose work brings them into regular contact with children, young people and families. It will enable multi-disciplinary teams to work together more effectively in the interests of the child. For further information, download the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge pdf, or visit the Every Child Matters website.

Helping the Young back to the Land: an opportunity to explore ways of working with teenagers on the land. This training for adults will be offered in Wiltshire (Oct 08 - April 09) by Circle of Life Rediscovery. The training, comprising three weekends and a four day module was devised by Annie Spencer who developed the programme after working in Romania with adolescents about to leave their orphanage. There she learnt how transforming time spent in nature can be for disturbed and angry young men and has since developed her work with young people both here and in the States for the past five years. Cost: £1050. This includes all teaching, accommodation and food. Details.

Useful Websites & Documents

A very comprehensive selection of useful links for issues relating to Children & Young people can be found on the website of The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action. Please click here.

Funding guide to workforce development - February 2008 - information on sources of funding for development of the voluntary and community sector (VCS) children and young people’s workforce developed by the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) and National Council of Voluntary Child Care
Organisations (NCVCCO). Download from the NCVYS website.

New Guidance – Managing Allegations against those who work with children - The Managing Allegations guidance sets out new roles and responsibilities for all organisations that work with children, young people and their families, whether in paid or voluntary work to ensure that any allegation is dealt with appropriately and in a timely fashion. Where an allegation is made, your organisation must ensure that staff are aware of who to refer their concerns to within their organisation (usually the Child Protection lead) and that the designated person discusses any allegation with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for their Local Authority. Further details are available in the Managing Allegations against Professionals - Briefing Paper, and also on the Local Safeguarding Children Board webpage at www.bathnes.gov.uk under ‘L’ for LSCB.

One Big Database - Children and Families Services. This is a central database which brings together information about services for children and their families. It covers the whole of Bath and North East Somerset as well as Bristol ,South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. Link

B&NES Children and Young People's Network. The Children & Young People’s Network provides anyone working in the Voluntary and Community Sector with up to date information on relevant legislation and developments at a local and national level. The Network aims to raise the profile of the sector in delivering and sustaining services for children and young people in B&NES. Further information on Bath Area Play Project website.

BETTER CARE, BETTER LIVES - Improving outcomes and experiences for children, young people and their families living with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. See the Better Care, Better Lives strategy on the Dept of Heath website.

STAR is a charity specialising in working with professionals and parents concerned with creating a positive environment for all children under 8 at home and at school. STAR's overall objective is to work towards the elimination of discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups by offering support and training to teachers, under 8's workers, parents and carers. Link to STAR website.

CRB Checks on Charity Trustees Most organisations who are looking for charity status and who work with children or vulnerable adults must now provide the Charity Commission with a signed declaration that they have carried out Criminal Record Bureau checks on prospective trustees. Previously only evidence that the checks had been carried out was needed. Details are on the Charity Commission website. It is also against the law for anyone to act as a trustee of a "children's charity" as defined in the Protection of Children Act 1999 unless a CRB check has been carried out. A report issued by the Commission in November 2007, made clear that trustees who fail to carry out such checks on new trustees or staff could themselves be in breach of their duty of care to the charity. Read the report on the Charity Commission website.
CC30 Finding new trustees: What charities need to know is a Charity Commission publication updated in October 2007 which gives detailed information on CRB and other checks that must be carried out on potential trustees for both new and existing charities.

Children & Young People Now - Provides support for multi-agency professionals who need to be kept up-to-date with news and information across children and youth services. Children & Young People Now website

Aiming High for Young People - The Government has published an implementation plan for the ten year strategy Aiming High for Young People highlighting the progress to date, and describing the key actions to be taken over the next 12 months. The plan will be updated regularly to reflect new developments. See the Every Child Matters website.

The NCVCCO Supporting Small Organisations Project has produced four fact sheets around some of the more challenging issues facing groups working with children, young people and families. These are not comprehensive guides but attempt to present the issues in a basic and more understandable way. Titles: commissioning, monitoring and evaluation using the 5 ECM outcomes, VCS representation and the new vetting and barring scheme. These fact sheets are available to download free from the NCVCCO website. Click on Supporting Small Organisations.

Bright Futures, Positive Influence: Creating a successful work experience placement in the third sector is a new guide for third sector organisations who are interested in hosting a work experience placement. This guide, produced by the Workforce Hub, focuses on supporting third sector organisations through the creation of a work placement aimed at key stage 4 school students (14-16 year olds). Download free from the Workforce Hub Website.

CYPnet - a new email network for people in the community and voluntary sector who support groups working with children and young people. The network is free to join and open to anyone who works directly with children or supports others who do. For more information and to find out how to join, visit the NAVCA website.

Working with Children and Young People with Disabilities. The Children's Workforce Development Council has created a web-based resource for anyone working with children and young people with disabilities. "Everyone in the children’s workforce is increasingly likely at some point to work with children and young people with disabilities. At CWDC, we want to help provide you with the right skills and knowledge to allow you to flexibly and appropriately meet the needs of these children and young people in ways that focus on strengths and abilities rather than disabilities." Click here to link to the CWDC website.

Revised Information Sharing Protocol for those working with children, young people and their families.

Follow these links for the Practitioners Handbook and the Wallchart.

Child Protection. New child protection procedures are coming into force in 2007. Please download this document and see the South West Child Protection Procedures website for further information. More information on managing allegations about staff.

The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has been created to help prevent unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults. From autumn 2008, when you recruit anyone new they will need to apply for ISA registration as part of the recruitment process. Further information can be found on the ISA website and on this link to the Every Child Matters Website. also a link to the powerpoint presentation of the latest information session.

The Children and Young People's Plan 2006-2009 provides a clear strategic direction to all staff and agencies working with children, young people, parents and carers and to achieve the local priorities for Children and Young people. For more information, please visit the B&NES Council website. Following the publication of the Children's Plan shortly before Christmas, NAVCA have now produced a short briefing paper which outlines the key initiatives and implications for the third sector. Please follow this link to the NAVCA website.

The Common Assessment Framework is a mechanism to assess children of concern, and where appropriate refer to specialist services. It is an important development in the move towards prevention and early intervention, and will help integrate services for children and young people. Further information is available in this document.

The Children's Workforce Learning Network (CWLN) has been established in the South West region to support staff working with children and young people and their families in the various Voluntary and Community sectors. Visit the website. There is also a regular Newsletter - please find the most recent version here

Bath & NE Somerset CYPSP have produced a Parenting Strategy for our area. Download the Parenting Strategy here and also see the Every Child Matters website.

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