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In the Community
Because many of our young people are placed individually it is vital that we
encourage them to socialise and integrate into a normal community and make
a positive contribution to it.
This can be a long drawn out process especially for young people who have been
isolated for a large part of their lives.
Charmaine, our ‘Community’ narrow boat is available for local voluntary groups to
use and our young people are encouraged to offer their services as crew for day
trips.
Young People are encouraged to mix with local young people and join in activities
and clubs. We have also arranged joint holidays for young people and their local
friends using our facilities at home and abroad.
Family Contact
Family, regardless of history is important to most of our young people.. Appropriate family contact is positively encouraged and all of our facilities are available for family weekends and days out. We have successfully re-introduced many young people to their families using these “neutral venues” as a base for family work. We will go to great lengths to enable contact to take place - anywhere!
The Police
We have a close working relationship with the local Police which ensures that we work together on a day to day basis in the best interests of our young people. We have formal working protocols covering young people Absent From Home and “Involving the Police” - clear policies and procedures for ensuring young people are not criminalised unnecessarily and that joint informal action can be taken to challenge offending behaviour.
Befrienders
An integral part of this is the introduction to our young people of our Community Befrienders. These are ordinary members of the community chosen for their commitment to young people. After the usual C. R. B and other checks, they are inducted into the organisation and introduced to a young person. We match individuals to young people based on interests and needs.
These befrienders play a vital role, both in terms of adding strength to our child protection practice and as a link to the wider community. Young People see them as advocates and as people who actually want to spend time with them. A befriender will meet with a young person once or twice a week, as part of their programme and will organise outings and events to suit the young person.