Family Voice Surrey ANNUAL EVENT!

15th November 2024

at Royal Holloway Students’ Union, Royal Holloway University of London,

EghamHill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX

FREE PARKING ON SITE

or Public Transport here Travel to or from campus – Royal Holloway Student Intranet

9.00am – 3.00pm

‘EMPOWERING PARENT CARERS’

***Book your tickets here using this link EVENTBRITE TICKETS ***

So far in attendance at our Marketplace we have the following organisations:- Barnardos, Bloomin’ Arts, Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder Society, Healthwatch Surrey, Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, Home from Home Care, KoothL-Spa, National Autistic Society, SEND Advice Surrey, SOS!SEN, Surrey Choices, White Lodge and YMCA.

If you have any questions for the Panel discussion please email questions@familyvoicesurrey.org and we will ask them on the day

Some more detail on our market place stall holders:-

Bloomin’ Arts is a creative arts organisation driven by the voice of Disabled Adults. We are a growing charity that delivers collaborative opportunities for disabled people 18+ years of age to continue to develop skills, perform and work in the arts. In our small friendly workshops, our highly experienced artist tutors are able to focus on individual skills. We work to everyone’s strengths enabling all to access art productions at any level they choose in a collaborative and welcoming environment.

Luminous (Home of Healthwatch Surrey) Luminus is an independent, not for profit organisation, that exists to empower people to have their voices heard in the design and delivery of public services. We help organisations provide equity of access and the best services possible, through the inclusive involvement of local people. Since April 2022, Luminus have been listening to the experiences of unpaid carers under the Giving carers a voice contract. Young carers are also now included under the giving young carers a voice contract.

The National Autistic Society (NAS) Surrey Branch is a volunteer-run support group for parents of autistic children and adults.  It runs a range of parent groups, both in person and online, and also runs an email support group known as the NASSB forum, and puts on occasional activities for families.   Details of all the Branch’s activities can be found in the newsletter sent out to members every 2 months.  For more information and to join the Branch  (free of charge), see the NAS Surrey Branch website   https://nassurreybranch.org

There is also a professional NAS Family Support Service, separate from the Branch, which provides courses, workshops and activities for families, plus some individual advice.  See https://nassurreybranch.org/nas-clubs-for-children/  for details.

Kooth is an online counselling, advice and support service, commissioned by the NHS, for all 11-18 year olds in Surrey. Free, self-referral and anonymous, with no waiting lists or thresholds, young people have access to fully qualified counsellors until 10pm, every day of the year inc. Christmas Day. In addition to counselling, the website offers support in the form of journal and goal setting spaces, self-help activities, magazine articles and fully moderated discussion boards. A trusted NHS partner for over 20 years, Kooth offers a safe, supportive space via a means young people are familiar with. Sign up for free at www.kooth.com.

Surrey Local Offer Surrey Family Information Service and Local Offer are free, impartial information and signposting services for all families in Surrey with children aged 0 to 19 (up to 25 years for those with additional needs and/or disabilities). The role of the service is to help families get the most out of the information and services available in the community and online. We also support professionals in their work with children and families by providing centralised information and resources to help guide them to the services and information that they need. Surrey Local Offer website is specifically for families of children with additional needs and/or disabilities and includes a directory of local groups, activities, and events.

SEND Advice Surrey is Surrey’s statutory SENDIAS service, a confidential and impartial information, advice and support service for children and young people aged 0-25 years with additional needs and/or disability, their parents/carers and professionals.

White Lodge Face2Face offers a free and confidential 1:1 befriending service for parents of children with a disability.

Have you recently learnt that your child has a disability? Perhaps the news came as a complete shock to you? Maybe you have known about your child’s disability for a while but are finding things difficult at the moment?

If you are the parent/carer of a disabled child, we can help. All our befrienders are parents who have been trained to give the best possible support to others. They provide 1:1 support in your own home, without judgement or agenda. As the befrienders are parents themselves, they can remember how they wanted to talk to someone who understood what they were feeling at the time. Many people find it invaluable to have another parent who can simply listen and understand.

Monthly befriending groups are also available for Mums and Dads (these are separate groups)

These groups are a great way to meet with others going through similar experiences. We hope the groups will help you to develop new friendships, socialise and gain emotional and moral support.

The groups are facilitated by two trained befrienders. Female befrienders for the Mums group and males for the Dads.

Please contact the Face2Face Co-ordinator for more details – E: face2face@whitelodgecentre.co.uk T: 01932 567131

YMCA East Surrey Disability Service offer a rage of services for Children, Young people and  adults with additional needs and disabilities and their Parent Carers.We run Short Break Clubs in Reigate, Epsom and Leatherhead for those aged 5-17. These run at weekends and during school holidays.

Face2Face offers support for parent carers my running peer support sessions, information adn training events. We also offer signposting and 121 support program.

Our Lifeworks service offer support for those aged 16 and above. Running on week days our  topic based sesions provide life skills.  They also offer rebound sessions and sensory based session for those with complex needs.