Activities and leisure - Local Offer

Youth clubs for young people with special educational needs
Holiday clubs for young people with special educational needs
Holiday Activity and Food Project (HAF)
Regular SEN events hosted by third-party organisations
Short Breaks Contract (Daytime Activities, Overnight Breaks and Respite)

Short Breaks Contract (Daytime Activities, Overnight Breaks and Respite)

Monthly update

December 2024

On 1 November 2024, Action for Children took over the Residential Short Breaks service from NHFT (Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust). Action for Children now run both the non-residential short breaks and the overnight breaks. This means the service is now combined.

We want to say a big thank you to NHFT for their great work over the years and for helping with the transfer of the services.

Who are Action for Children?

Last month, we introduced Sue Connor, our new Head of Service. This month, we will introduce more staff you will meet in the services.

Over the next few months, we will keep introducing staff so you can get to know the whole team and how to contact them.

Dual Registered Manager

The Registered Manager for The Squirrels and John Greenwood Shipman Home is Georgina Murray. Georgina qualified as a Registered Learning Disability Nurse in 2008 and has worked as a Senior Primary Nurse in short breaks services. She holds a Facilitating Learning for Professional Practice qualification.

In 2015, Georgina became Deputy Manager at John Greenwood Shipman Home before becoming an Ofsted Registered Manager. She has also achieved the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Children, Young People, and Families, as well as NVQ Levels 2 and 3 in Care and Promoting Independence.

On 1 November 2024, Georgina took on the role of dual Registered Manager for both The Squirrels and John Greenwood Shipman Home.

John Greenwood Shipman Home Manager

Sarah Maher is the newly appointed Home Manager and is supporting Georgina Murray in managing John Greenwood Shipman Home. Previously, Sarah was the Deputy Manager at the home and has completed her Level 5 Diploma. She also holds an NVQ Level 3 and the A1 Assessor Award.

Sarah has extensive management experience and has worked with children and young people on the autistic spectrum for over 15 years.

What has happened so far?

All staff moving from NHFT to Action for Children had two days of training to learn new systems.

Action for Children held group meetings for parents of the overnight service to meet staff and ask questions. If you missed these meetings and want to talk to the team, please email [email protected] or [email protected].

The next month

Action for Children are recruiting new staff. This is to get the service to full capacity as soon as possible.

You may see some new faces in the homes over the next few weeks. All new staff will shadow with another member of staff for a while. They will be introduced to families. They will become familiar with attending to the children and young people’s needs.

The overnight breaks service will offer more activities and opportunities throughout their stay. This will be planned over the forthcoming weeks. They will continue to work with parents and gain feedback from the children and young people. As the service develops it will respond to the needs of all families.

The planning of the Central Hub is underway and your input into this will be greatly appreciated. Information about website updates and recruitment of volunteers will follow. There will be a buddying and mentor scheme as well.

Joint team meetings and training of the daytime and the overnight teams will take place. Staff will know about the support available for children and families across Northamptonshire.

A new youth group in Kettering will start in 2025. There will be “out and about” activity days for the children registered to our service in 2025. Occasional family fun days and activities will be organised next year.

Challenges

We know the change in providers for the overnight breaks service has been hard for families, especially those at Squirrels.

Thank you to everyone who shared their concerns with us or contacted the parent forums. We want you to know we are listening and will do our best to get the service back to normal quickly.

We are planning more face-to-face meetings for parents and carers in the new year, so look out for the dates.