We’re so excited to announce our new project to support military children while their parent is deployed. Little Troopers “All Together” is a deployment club open to children of all ages, providing free residential breaks, adventure days and online sessions, all made possible by a generous grant from the Veterans’ Foundation.
Louise founder of the charity, said: “Each year, thousands of military children have a parent, or in some cases both parents, deployed for months at a time. Many families from the military community were telling us their children and young people were finding deployments hard. That they were struggling with feeling isolated and they felt being with others in a similar situation would be beneficial.”
The first “All Together” event will be an adventure day for 80 children in July this year. This will be followed by the first of two residential weekends for military teens and a series of online events in Autumn 2022. Further events are planned for Spring 2023.
Thanks to the grant awarded by the Veterans’ Foundation, Little Troopers will be able to provide support for hundreds of military children experiencing deployment. David Shaw, CEO and Founder of the Veterans’ Foundation, said, “We are delighted to award this grant to Little Troopers. Their work providing breaks, events and support for children whose parents are away on deployment is so important"
You can read more about All Together here.
We are excited to launch our new birthday card design. The new design will be sent to your child, along with a banner, badge and balloons. Our birthday card scheme is a perfect way to make your little trooper feel great when they have a parent serving away from home on their special day. Don't forget you send us a personal message to include in the card.
Click here to request a birthday card for your little trooper.
Digital library card
We are excited to announce that you can now access a scannable digital library card on your phone which you can use to borrow books in libraries on our self service machines with the Plymouth Libraries app.
The app will also allow you to renew and reserve books. Just enter your library card number and PIN and you are good to go!
Take a look at our YouTube video for a step by step guide on how to use the Plymouth Libraries app.
Guidance for young carers
Please find below a link to the latest guidance for young carers and young adult carers who are providing care for somebody during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Members of the Educational Psychology Service (Plymouth City Council) have consulted with a range of professionals including colleagues in Child Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and schools to produce this set of documents for schools and families. This area of work is particularly relevant for children with social, emotional and mental health needs as well as those who are anxious about returning to school following lockdown.
Download these resources from the PIAS website:
· Emotionally Based School Avoidance – Guidance for Parents
· Emotionally Based School Avoidance – Guidance for Children
· Emotionally Based School Avoidance – Guidance for Young People
Healthy Start Scheme
Please look at the link below to see if you are eligible for free voucher to purchase fruit, veg, milk and vitamins. This is a scheme for low income families and for families whose income may have been affected by the current climate. If you are a woman who is more than 10 week pregnant or have children under the age of 4 and are in receipt one of the following benefits you may be able to apply for this scheme.
Income support, Income based JSA, Income related ESA, Child Tax Credits (with a family income under £16,190) or Universal Credits (with a family income of under £408 per month). Please follow this link for full details, these voucher can be worth up to £50.00 per month, www.plymouth.gov.uk/newsrooms/pressreleases/makemosthealthystartscheme
Young people have created a blog so that young people can support each other and encourage each other to stay positive.
All of the posts are created by young people aged 25 and under who used Barnardos and other support services.
The blog page is edited by young colleagues involved in HYPE.
We would be grateful if you could share the blog page widely with young people.
https://www.facebook.com/Barnardos-HYPE-Blog-112337810440341
We want other young people to get involved creating block pages and sharing their ideas, thoughts and feelings. To get involved messages on Facebook or email us at hype@barnardos.org.uk
We have a canva account that can be shared with young people to create their entries.
PIAS is able to support you during the present Covid-19 pandemic. Our phone lines remain open and you can call us on 01752 258933.
Please see the links below for other relevant information for parents, sibling carers and young carers.
Please note the Health Services link below which gives information on the Child Development Centre (CDC) and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
Parenting dedicated phone support for families (Plymouth)
http://www.plymouthias.org.uk/parenting-programmes/family-phone-support
Support for sibling carers
http://www.plymouthias.org.uk/young-people-support/sibling-carers
Support in Plymouth for young carers
https://www.plymouthonlinedirectory.com/plymouthlocaloffer/
supportforyoungcarers/supportinplymouth
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We regularly post information, activities and events happening in the Plymouth area on our Facebook page. Stay up to date by liking us on Facebook