CCB have 29 of these headsets available. They are brand new, still in packaging. Great for working from home or taking part in online training. We would like to get rid of in bulk and suggest a donation of £60 for our charity Connecting Communites in Berkshire in return for them all. Collection from Swallowfield, Berkshire. Please contact Gemma.Pearce@ccberks.org.uk if interested.

Berkshire West CCG, Wokingham LA, West Berkshire LA and Brighter Futures for Children have jointly commissioned the online counselling service Kooth, a service delivered by XenZone. Kooth will now be an integral component of Berkshire West’s mental health provision offering digital counselling and emotional wellbeing service for young people and young adults.

For a brief video giving an overview of Kooth please click here: Kooth Video
Kooth is a free online counselling and emotional wellbeing support service providing young people aged 11-18 years (up to their 19th birthday) in Berkshire West with a safe and secure means of accessing support with their emotional health and wellbeing needs from a professional team of qualified counsellors.

Kooth is a well-established, award winning online counselling service and is accredited by The British Association of Psychotherapy and Counselling (BACP). Founded in 2001, they are leading pioneers of online counselling in the UK, having won a number of prestigious awards.

Kooth has no referrals, thresholds or waiting lists. Young people can access this service anonymously by signing onto the Kooth site. Kooth provides unique out of office hours’ provision and is open 7 days per week, 365 days a year from noon until 10pm weekdays and from 6pm until 10pm on Saturday and Sundays. Kooth provides added value with moderated, scheduled forums and self-help articles (many written by service users) to provide peer led and self-help support.

Kooth helps to reduce waiting times for young people seeking help, removes stigma around mental health and accessing services. Kooth integrates with face-to-face local services to ensure a seamless transition for young people.

Kooth’s team of qualified counsellors, therapists and support workers provide guided, outcome-focused help for each individual. Kooth take safeguarding and clinical governance extremely seriously. The safety and well-being of all Kooth users is an upmost priority.

New item from Reading Voluntary Action & NHS Berkshire West CCG

In 2018 the Government published its Serious Violence Strategy
& in 2019 funding was provided to police forces to assist them
in developing their local response to the increase in violent crime.
In support of this strategy, Thames Valley Police have recently provided funding to the Thames Valley Partnership to enable them to expand their existing mentoring programme, New Leaf, so as be able to offer mentoring support to young people and adults that are at risk of exclusion and /or currently within the criminal justice system.

Collaborative Approaches to Preventing Offending and Reoffending by Children (CAPRICORN) published in August 2019 indicates that mentoring can be an effective way to engage with a young person who is at risk of reoffending: gov.uk/capricorn

Mentoring is particularly helpful when a young person does not have a positive role model within their family or support network, where they are socially isolated, have low self-esteem and they struggle to form and maintaining healthy relationships. Starting Point are working with the Thames Valley.

Partnership in providing mentoring for young people: startingpoint.org.uk
Any agency that wishes to make a referral should use the New Leaf for Young People referral form: startingpoint.org.uk/aspire-mentoring

Article courtesy from Wokingham InVOLve

https://acre.org.uk/our-work/safeguarding

ACRE

Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) has been awarded over £100k from the National Lottery Community Fund to promote good safeguarding practice to village and community halls throughout England.  

We will be working to make sure that the voluntary management committees that run halls and community buildings have the knowledge and confidence to provide a safe environment for all.

Advice and examples of best practice will be shared with those managing and using village and community halls so that they fully understand their responsibilities and have appropriate and proportionate policies and procedures in place.

The project will be rolled out using our network of 38 county-based members (of which CCB are the member in Berkshire) who already provide support to rural village and community halls.  We will be working with management committees to help them understand current legislation around safeguarding and make sure procedures are in place which reflect good practice. Ultimately, our aim is to increase awareness of the importance of safeguarding and making sure that these important rural assets are welcoming and safe places for all.

England’s 10,000 village halls are at the heart of rural community life – providing a hub for social activities, classes and services. Through its network of skilled advisers, ACRE supports the 80,000 volunteers who run village halls and similar rural community buildings.

NCVO Safeguarding information

https://knowhow.ncvo.org.uk/safeguarding

NSPCC child protection guidance

https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/voluntary-community-groups/

Safeguarding concerns: practice example – hiring out space

https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/safeguarding-concerns-practice-examples/

Safeguarding guidance for disabled children and adults at risk

https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/safeguarding-concerns-practice-examples/

Guidance on handling safeguarding allegations in a charity

https://safeguarding.culture.gov.uk/