POSTPONED – NEW DATE TO BE ADVISED

Family Voice Surrey ANNUAL EVENT!

15th November 2024

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

Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX

9.00am – 3.00pm

‘EMPOWERING PARENT CARERS’

FREE PARKING ON SITE & A LIGHT LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED

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

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

So far in attendance at our Marketplace we have the following organisations:- All Age Autism Strategy, Barnardos, Bloomin’ Arts, County Care Living, Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder Society, Healthwatch Surrey, Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, Home from Home Care, Kooth, LuminousL-Spa, Mindworks, National Autistic Society, SEND Advice Surrey, Surrey Local Offer, SOS!SEN, Surrey Choices, White Lodge and YMCA.

We also have 2 legal presentations by Sarah Palmer from Enable Law

Both presentations will be the same format to make sure every attendee has a chance to attend the talk. These will both be a general overview of the law in relation to EHCPs, including what to do if your child is not at school and additional needs and disability transport. There is no need to book a place on the talks but please arrive promptly for the start of the talk.
Sarah will also be available throughout the day for any other questions you may have for her.

Sarah has over 25 years experience of helping families with a huge range of special educational needs and disabilities. Alongside this, she has extensive experience of working with Children’s Services in order to secure packages of support for children and young people. She works closely with experts, Counsel and a variety of schools to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and their families.  Where possible they try and negotiate with a view to reaching agreement with Local Authorities, although this is very much dependent on the issues and the willingness of the LA to engage.

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

‘Meet and Greet Time’ is an opportunity for all attendees to meet all of the FVS Team as well as have a general chat with the AND Partnership Team in attendance from some of the key services, such as SEND, Health, Social Care, Early Help and MindWorks.  Plus a chance to look around the Marketplace tables (see below for more detail on who will be there!).

Some more detail on our market place stall holders:-

All Age Autism StrategyThe All Age Autism strategy is fast approaching year 4 & 5 of implementation. As their key partners, Family Voice Surrey have proactively supported and influenced the direction of activities to date. Come along to hear about what they have achieved so far and what their plans are moving forward. They would love to hear your views and ideas so that they can continue to work in partnership with parent carers to improve the outcomes for autistic children, young people, and their families.

Barnardo’s is one of the largest children’s charities in the UK. In Surrey, Barnardo’s is commissioned by Surrey and Borders NHS Trust to deliver many different services to Children, Young People, Families and Professionals in Surrey. Barnardo’s Surrey ND offers sit under the Mindworks support offer. Barnardo’s will be showcasing the support on offer, such as their 8-week Nurture Programme Course, their 8 week Parent Factor course, their Out of Hours Helpline and their Paediatrics Support, which is for parents and/or carers with a young person showing ND behaviours 5 and under. Other services on offer from Barnardo’s will also be showcased. Leads in the services will be onsite to discuss your needs and to support with referrals if required.

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.

County Care Independent Living Limited is a care provider specialising in supporting people with Learning Disabilities, Autism and Mental Health to maintain and develop Independence and Life Skills. We have multiple services ranging from specialist care at home, support in the community and teaching invaluable life skills at our Community Hubs. Please clink on the link to find out more https://www.countycare.co.uk/

Home from Home Care Created by a Family to Make the Difference; Home From Home Care provides specialist residential care for adults (18+) with learning disabilities, autism and complex physical health & mental health needs. We design bespoke support and environments tailored around each individual based on their needs and aspirations to enable each person to lead a fulfilled adult life. We focus on independence, self-worth and new opportunities as well as build on life skills from education to ensure each individual continues to progress and develop to their fullest potential.

As a family ourselves, we are driven by wanting to make the difference by setting high standards in everything we provide. We also understand the worries that keep parents awake at night thinking about the future of their loved ones and the challenges of navigating the processes of transition to adulthood. We invite you to come and speak with us about future options, including what Home From Home Care offers.

Tel: 0800 587 0372 Email: getintouch@homefromhomecare.com      Website: https://www.homefromhomecare.com

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.

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.

Mindworks Surrey is the children and young people’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Service in Surrey.

It is delivered by a group made up of NHS, national and local voluntary sector organisations all working together. You can find out more about who we are and what services are available on the about us section of our website, we also have a useful short video on there to explain our offer.

We use an approach called THRIVE, where children and young people have a central voice in decisions about their care. Children and young people have more choices about their options, and more opportunities to access a range of services.

Our Mindworks website has a wealth of resources and information available for you to access to help support a child or young person’s emotional wellbeing and mental health.

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.

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.

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.

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.