Barnardo’s
Catalyst was formally set up in St Helens in 2002 after
being part of the Knowsley Wider Horizons Project.
The project aims
to :
- Support
children and young people who have a disability and
additional needs aged 5-18 years, to access and be
included in local play, leisure and youth activities
in their community.
- Promote awareness of rights abilities and needs of
children and young people who are disabled and have
additional needs, and also those who are looked
after by the Borough of St Helens.
- Promote children and young people who are disabled
and have additional needs being more involved in the
life of their communities
- Support and facilitate the participation of
parents, carers, children and young people in
service developments and for their views to be heard
in relation to both their individual and collective
concerns.
- Contribute to the development of services, and
actively encourage inter agency co-operation and
co-ordination of services for the children with whom
we work.
- To promote the use of volunteers within services
for children.
- Promote the rights, wishes and needs of looked
after children and young people, and advocate on
their behalf when requested.
Statement of
centre aims:
- The Centre is first and foremost a play provision.
- The centre is an Inclusive play provision. This means
that we welcome all children disabled or non disabled.
We aim to create
a play environment which is:
* Fun
* Stimulating
* Enjoyable
* Challenging
* Flexible
* Responsive
* Exciting
Children and
young people who use the centre will have a say in what
happens during their sessions. All children and young
people regardless of age and ability will be encouraged
to contribute their ideas to the sessions they attend.
Children will be
encouraged to try new experiences with the support of
the staff and volunteers at the centre.
The rules of the
centre will be made in consultation with all children
and young people who attend the centre regularly.
Criteria’s for
the Play Centre
- Children
and young people age 5 to 13 years who live or go to
school in the Parish of Rainhill (non disabled and
disabled children)
- Disabled children & young people referred through
BARNARDO’S Catalyst service, from across the borough
over the age of 5, of appropriate age and ability to
benefit from play activities and whom are unable to
access opportunities in their local community
- Those disabled children who are accessing their
local community play opportunities will be entitled
to access play events at the centre on specific
dates as advertised
- The siblings of disabled children may access the
centre for specific events
The Play Centre
is first and foremost a play provision. The centre is an
Inclusive play provision. This means that we welcome all
children disabled or non disabled.
The 4F
Centre
Old Lane/Warrington Road
Rainhill
Prescot
L35 ONE
Tel (0151) 426-9115
Barnardo’s
Catalyst works in the borough of St Helens to offer a
service to disabled children/young people. We also offer
a Children’s Rights Service to those who are Looked
After by St Helens Council and Wigan Borough Council.
We offer a
rights based service in order to increase choices and
participation in order for children/young people to take
an active part in their lives and their own communities.
The age range we
work with is from 0 to 18 years old as defined by the
Children Act.
These include:
- Community
based Play & Leisure Services for Disabled
Children/young people.
- Children’s Rights/Advocacy Service.
- Independent Visitors Service – Looked After
Children/young people.
- Awareness training to national and local agencies.
- Involvement and Participation Activities.
The 4F centre
aims to be a “Play” centre of excellence which offers a
central base for inclusive play/leisure opportunities to
disabled children within St Helens and non disabled
children within the Rainhill area.
To achieve these
we work closely with parents/carers and all statutory
and community services within the borough.
We base our
activities around national research, (“What works”) and
other evidence based evaluations. Ie. Contact a Family
etc.
We are funded
from a wide range of agencies which include Barnardo’s,
Children’s Social Services, Better Play, Children’s Fund
and are grateful to these agencies for their continued
support.
The Service
aims to:
Promote awareness of the rights, abilities and needs
of children & young people who are disabled or who
are Looked After.
Promote children & young people who are disabled or
who are Looked After in the life of their
communities
Support and facilitate the participation of parents,
carers, children and young people in service
developments and for their views to be heard in
relation to both their individual and collective
concerns.
Contribute to the development of services and
opportunities for children and young people who are
disabled or Looked After, and their families.
Promote the use of volunteers within services for
children
Actively encourage inter-agency co-operation and
co-ordination of services for children/young people.
Our Staff are:
- Paul
Wilcox, Assistant Director – Barnardo's North West
- Ken Williams, Children’s Services Manager -
Catalyst
- Diane Wellings, SNR Project Worker– Better Play
Full Time
- Becky Barnes, Youth worker-Part Time
- Eleanor Wilson, SNR Project Worker Full Time
- Harold Hotchkiss, Information Advice Worker Part
Time
- Alison Hill, Young Person Consultant Part Time
- Jessie Robertshaw, Young Person Consultant Part
Time
- Rachel Friar, Young Person Consultant Part Time
- Maggie Tilston, Administrator Part Time
- Liz Dodson , Children’s Rights Officer Full Time
Sharon Mercer Children’s Rights Assistant Pt
- Catherine McCrea, Community Development Worker
Full Time
- John Denton, Community Development Worker Full
Time
- Ashley McCormick, Community Development Worker
Full Time
We also work
with many volunteers across the range of our service who
greatly add to the quality and quantity of the services
to children/young people
Criteria for
Services – Looked After Children / Young People:-
The Children’s
Rights Service is available to those children/young
people who are looked after by St Helens or Wigan
Borough Councils.
They may live
within or outside the boroughs and may be in
residential, foster care, children’s homes or
independent living situations.
The St Helens
Independent Visitors Service is available to a small
number of children who have no significant family
contact and have been identified as being at risk of
being isolated.
Criteria for
Services – Disabled Children/Young People:-
The services
are open to children/young people who are disabled
and have additional needs living within the Borough
of St Helens.
Priority will be given to those who have severe
learning difficulties and not accessing any out of
school community based services.
Presently this means those who attend Mill Green/Hamblett
Schools or are eligible within the criteria for the
DISC register and may attend other provisions
including mainstream school.
For those others who have additional needs, we offer
signposting advice to services and appropriate local
statutory and voluntary contacts.
We work closely with the Children with Disabilities
social work team to offer equality of support.
REFERRAL /
REQUESTS FOR SERVICES
Requests for our
involvement or our services can come from:-
* Self
requests from children / young people.
* Indirect from children / young people via
participation activities.
* Direct from parents / carers.
* Social Workers.
* Key Workers.
* Educational Personnel.
* Colleagues and other partners.
All requests etc
will be discussed at team meetings (fortnightly) and a
member of staff will be allocated to take follow up
action. This may take the form of direct contact or
involve passing the information back to the original
referrer for action.
All requests
must be made with the knowledge and consent of
parents/carers/children/young people.
If you would
like further more detailed information on our services
or would like to become involved in developing and
shaping services then please contact us.
