Early help - Brighter Futures For Children
We work with parents, children, young people and alongside our partners in the wider early help community.
Early help, also known as early intervention, provides the right support to families, at the right time, to achieve change that lasts. It can be provided at any stage in a child or young person’s life, from pre-birth through to teenage years.
We will work closely with you and schools and other services to provide holistic family-centred support in order to prevent issues developing and/or escalating. We want to make sure children and young people achieve positive outcomes in their lives.
Your family will be allocated a key worker and they will work with you and other agencies, if appropriate, to assess the needs and develop a plan with clear goals, timescales and outcomes which will be reviewed regularly with you and other services supporting the your family.
A key worker will also make sure that the views of children and young people are heard and included in the plan. Early help also run a number of parenting group programmes to help parents develop their skills as a parent. These are held in venues across Reading.
Below you find the details of the services and teams that offer support to you and your family.
Parents relationship support
Whether you are together, separated or divorced, the way you communicate with each other matters to your children, regardless of how old they are.
For relationship advice and support, our Family Information Service (FIS) has more information: Parents relationship matter
For more details about Portage Home Visitors, see our Portage service leaflet
This is a unique and valued service providing one to one massage therapy sessions to children and young people in Reading settings, training to staff, and support to staff, parents and carers around sensory integration.
Sessions are purchased directly by schools and referrals are usually made by the school’s SENCo/Inclusion Lead. Children and young people do not need a diagnosis or EHC Plan to receive massage therapy.
For more information please visit our service page here or contact our massage and sensory therapist, Sophie Webster, on 07814 622986 or Sophie.Webster@brighterfuturesforchildren.org.
They provide one-to-one support to young people aged 13–19 years old (and up to 25 years old for those young people with a special educational need or a disability) who are at risk of teenage pregnancy, exploitation, have drug and alcohol misuse issues or are young parents.
“I called the CAT team (Children Action Team) when I was at the end of my tether with my children’s behaviour. It was a last ditch attempt and I didn’t hold out much hope of my children engaging in the process as they are extremely resistant to help, believing, as they do, that no help was needed. A initially won her over with his calm, friendly approach and she found that she really liked him, as did my son. When I heard that A was moving on, I was very disappointed and thought that the process would fall apart for sure, but B came along and managed to inspire and help my children.
“Since working with N, I have found her one of the best support workers I have worked with. She is quick to pick up on issues and can see further than what is sometimes presented. She is both intuitive and perceptive. She is always polite, positive and friendly when dealing with families but will not shy away from saying what she must, however difficult, even if it not necessarily well received. I have found her organised and thorough, always doing what she says she will do. She listens to other professionals and talks over plans to move things forward.
If you want to report concerns about a child or young person, visit this page if you a member of the public or this page if you’re a professional.