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Circle of Support. Andrea Moore: Doncaster IV Service

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Circle of Support. Andrea Moore: Doncaster IV Service

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We have a great activity we do called “circle of support” that was originally developed by our young people who deliver training about growing up in care. The delegates stand in a circle with the “young person” in the middle of the circle and the facilitator reads through a story of their life and how many people may be involved with them, both personally and professionally.  Each time a new person is named the ball of string is passed to a new person in the circle.  A web is created around the ‘young person’ standing in the centre.  We do not include the IV to represent their independence from the ‘team around the young person’.

We then ask the delegates where they think the IV role sits within this web and the young person’s life.  This opens the conversation to discussion about the independence of the role and confidentiality, appropriate information sharing and boundaries etc.

Activity outcomes:

·         It allows the facilitators to assess how well participants have absorbed information in relation to the care-experience and specifically care journey

·         It’s an example of aural, visual and kinaesthetic learning

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‘Yes, No, Maybe …’  Joanna Evans: West Sussex IV Scheme

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‘Yes, No, Maybe …’  Joanna Evans: West Sussex IV Scheme

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This is an activity we use for exploring the rules/ boundaries around the IV expense budget.  However, it could be easily adapted to other topics.

We have 3 signs up in different corners of the room using red, green and orange card – one says ‘YES’, one says ‘NO, and one says ‘MAYBE’. We then read out a question/ scenario – for example, “You are going to play tennis with your young person, are you allowed to use the budget to buy a tennis racket?” People then move to the sign that they think answers the question in relation to the volunteer expense policy. We then ask people why they have chosen the answer they have and discuss our guidance. Some questions/scenarios are designed to bring up interesting discussions about things like ‘gifts’ and related issues around ‘grooming’ and also around safeguarding/ adequate care being provided by foster placements.

This activity can also be run virtually with participants requested to write ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘maybe’ on paper and hold up – or just respond verbally.

Activity outcomes:

·         It allows the facilitators to assess how well participants have absorbed information in relation to IV expense policy

·         It’s an example of aural learning

Resources:
Yes, No, Maybe on green, red and orange card. Blue tack to attach cards to walls.

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Ten qualities! Frank Martin: Kent Young Lives Foundation

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Ten qualities! Frank Martin: Kent Young Lives Foundation

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Ten Qualities that an Independent Visitor should have were chosen by Medway Children and Young Person’s Council.  Participants are each provided with a copy of the individual qualities and asked to prioritise them in relation to their own personality.

Good listener

Contactable

Good timekeeper

Resourceful

Understanding

Non judgemental

Focused

Honest

Consistent and stable

Realistic

Activity outcomes:

·         It allows the facilitators to assess how well participants have absorbed information in relation to the IV role

·         It can feed into the matching process as it helps give a sense of their personality to support matching

·         It is an example of visual/reading learning.

Resources:

Copies of the individual named qualities.  One set is provided per participant.

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A fun, creative, hands-on activity! Explore visit activity through playdough.  Deborah Welling: Wiltshire IV Scheme

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A fun, creative, hands-on activity! Explore visit activity through playdough.  Deborah Welling: Wiltshire IV Scheme

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We do this at the end of day one; we want it to be fun.  We call it the playdough activity. We split participants into 2-3 small groups to bring the inner child out.

Each participant is invited to create a model(s) of a visit activity of their choice.

Two IVs attend the session the following day and select their favourites on the basis of creativity and also the choice of activity (does it comply with activity policy). This introduces an element of competition!  Information relating to activity policy has been shared and discussed with participants ahead of this exercise.

(For reference: Wiltshire scheme activity rules/parameters relating to service policy)

Not too far to travel from the young person’s home

Not too dangerous

Not too expensive

Activity outcomes:

·         It allows the facilitators to assess how well participants have absorbed and understand information.

·         We can also get a picture of participants’ interaction with one another and how they respond to one another’s creative work. Are they encouraging or critical?

·         It can feed into the matching process as it helps give a sense of their personality to support matching

·         It is an example of kinaesthetic learning.

Resources:

Different coloured playdough

Trays to hold the models

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Please find here a collection of resources related to our in-person and virtual conferences held in 2023 - resources from Leeds, various schemes' training activities and lots of mental health resources.

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The presentation that Dave Gilbert from Leeds shared at our conferences.

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Young Minds have a range of information, advice as well as resources including things like wellbeing activities, toolkits and webinars to help you support the young people in your lives.

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Mental Health Resources For Children and Young People

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Free mental health resources, posters, lesson plans and activity sheets for primary and secondary school staff, and mental health professionals working with children and young people.

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Poetry resources to facilitate discussion on mental health

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Poetry resources to facilitate discussion on mental health

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These four poems explore daily realities and strategies associated with mental health. Each poem has been written using the direct quotes from the research participants who were involved with Bridget Handley's PhD that researches the mental health journeys of care experienced young people who live in Wales. These resources are available in Welsh and English and can be used to facilitate discussion amongst young people and practitioners in a range of settings including, schools, families, social services and the third sector.

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Poetry resources to facilitate discussion on mental health

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These four poems explore daily realities and strategies associated with mental health. Each poem has been written using the direct quotes from the research participants who were involved with Bridget Handley's PhD that researches the mental health journeys of care experienced young people who live in Wales.

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The Mix is the UK’s leading digital charity for under 25s, reaching over 6 million young people each year. Whatever issue a young person is facing, The Mix is always there for them – via our website, over the phone or via social media. Our support is free, confidential and anonymous and can be accessed wherever young people are.

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Essential support for under 25s

The Mix is the UK's leading support service for young people. We are here to help you take on any challenge you're facing - from mental health to money, from homelessness to finding a job, from break-ups to drugs. Talk to us via our online community, on social, through our free, confidential helpline or our counselling service.

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The Mix. Registered charity number: 1048995

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Welcome to The Mix, offering essential support for under 25s.

Log in to submit your own content on our platform Your Voices.

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Welcome to The Mix, the online guide to life for young people in the UK.

Your Voices is a community-focused section of The Mix where you can share stories about your experiences on a specific issue. Upload your own videos, images, blog posts, and playlists to Your Voices and share them with your friends.

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The Mix - Essential support for under 25s

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The Mix: 0808 808 4994 - Free information and support for under 25s in the UK. Get advice about sex, relationships, drugs, mental health, money & jobs.

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MindEd is a free educational resource on children,
young people, adults and older people's mental health.

MindEd has elearning applicable across the health, social care, education, criminal justice and community settings. It is aimed at anyone from beginner through to specialist.

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MindEd is suitable for all adults working with, or caring for, infants, children or teenagers, adults and older people, including people with a learning disability and autistic people; all the information provided is quality assured by experts, useful, and easy to understand. We aim to give adults who care for, or work with people:

the knowledge to support their wellbeing

the understanding to identify a child, young person or adult at risk of a mental health condition

the confidence to act on their concern and, if needed, signpost to services that can help

MindEd is multi-professional, and can be used by teachers, health and mental health professionals, police and judiciary staff, social workers, youth service volunteers, school counsellors among others to support their professional development.

All registered learners can access a learning path tailored to their needs.

Throughout the MindEd site we make use of images and videos. In all cases, except where specifically noted, these images and videos use actors and are not intended to represent any specific person.

Disclaimer

Please note that the advice provided on MindEd is written and quality assured by experts in mental health and is accurate and comprehensive as possible. It is however only general advice and should not be used as a substitute for any individual advice you might receive from consulting your own doctor/mental health professional. Please use your own judgement when deciding how best to apply our information to any specific situation or proposed treatment. This applies to any clinical professionals, who should use their own clinical judgement when interpreting the information on MindEd and deciding how to best apply it in the treatment of patients.

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MindEd is suitable for all adults working with, or caring for, infants, children or teenagers, adults and older people, including people with a learning disability and autistic people; all the information provided is quality assured by experts, useful, and easy to understand.

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10,000 Voices: Children in care’s views on their well-being report.

Bright Spots reports that analyse 9,472 responses from children in care aged 4- 18 years to the Your Life Your Care survey between 2016 and 2021.  The reports give an insight into children in care’s subjective wellbeing and what they feel makes their lives good.

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10,000 Voices: Children in care’s views on their well-being report - Coram Voice

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The 10,000 voice report analyses 9,472 responses from children in care aged 4-18 years to the Your Life Your Care survey between 2016 and 2021, giving unprecedented insight into care experienced children and young people’s subjective wellbeing.Bright Spots report that analyses 9,472 responses from c…

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Findings from The Big Ask: Children in Care

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Findings from The Big Ask: Children in Care

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This report, published in collaboration with Coram, explores the findings from over 2,200 responses to The Big Ask from children in care. At times, these responses are related to a comparable survey of children known to be in care, carried out as part of Coram Voice and the Rees Centre, University of Oxford’s Bright Spots programme, Your Life, Your Care, which collected nearly 9,500 responses between 2016-2021, making it the largest survey in England of children known to be in care.

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In April 2021 I launchedas a national consultation exercise with children across England. I asked them about their lives, their priorities, their worries and their hopes for the future, and children wrote back. The Big Ask was live for 6 weeks and in that time, over 550,000 children completed the survey, making it the largest survey of children ever.

This report, published in collaboration with Coram, explores the findings from over 2,200 responses to The Big Ask from children in care. At times, these responses are related to a comparable survey of children known to be in care, carried out as part of Coram Voice and the Rees Centre, University of Oxford's Bright Spots programme, Your Life, Your Care, which collected nearly 9,500 responses between 2016-2021, making it the largest survey in England of children known to be in care.

This report brings to light the issues facing children in care which are reflected in our recommendations to improve the experiences of children involved with social care. Every professional that supports children in care and care leavers should have support them in every aspect of their lives and have high aspirations for them. Schools and primary care networks should be better utilised in supporting Local Safeguarding Partnerships and all children in care should be entitled to advocacy services as standard on an opt-out, rather than an opt-in, basis. Finally, and as highlighted in this report, children's voices should be given emphasis in research. Children are the experts in their own life experiences, and they know best what needs to change to improve the lives of children in England

Related Reports

Looked after children who are not in school

Attending school, and all that comes with that experience, is something that many of us will have taken for granted over the course of our lives. I want every child to be excited about getting up for school in the morning, making new friends, learning new things and establishing formative relationships with their teachers. School [...]

Briefing for Peers on the Illegal Migration Bill

As the Illegal Migration Bill enters the House of Lords, the Children's Commissioner remains concerned about provisions in the Bill for children and young people. The Children's Commissioner has a statutory duty, as set out in the Children Act 2004, to promote and protect the rights of children all children, with particular regard to children [...]

Briefing for MPs ahead of the report stage of the Illegal Migration Bill

As the Illegal Migration Bill enters Report Stage on Wednesday 26th April, the Children's Commissioner remains concerned about provisions in the Bill for children and young people. The Children's Commissioner for England has a statutory duty, as set out in the Children Act 2004, to promote and protect the rights of children all children, with [...]

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Findings from The Big Ask: Children in Care | Children's Commissioner for England

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In April 2021 I launched The Big Ask as a national consultation exercise with children across England. I asked them about their lives, their priorities,

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An exploratory study of the emotional wellbeing needs and experiences of care leavers in England

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An exploratory study of the emotional wellbeing needs and experiences of care leavers in England

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This exploratory study aimed to better understand the services that local authorities (LAs) provide to care leavers to support their emotional wellbeing.

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An exploratory study of the emotional wellbeing needs and experiences of care leavers in England - What Works for Children’s Social Care

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Summary This exploratory study aimed to better understand the services that local authorities (LAs) provide to care leavers to support their emotional wellbeing. An evidence review and in-depth qualitative work with five English LAs were carried out to explore care leavers’ emotional wellbeing needs…

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The Children's Society Mental Health Resources

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The Children's Society Mental Health Resources

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Are you looking to learn more about a particular mental health issue? Perhaps a friend has been feeling anxious, your parents are more stressed than usual, or you've been feeling low and not sure why.

Our mental health resources are co-designed by young people and mental health professionals. They help make sense of issues that are more common than you might think.

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A-Z of mental health and wellbeing to help young people with everything from anger and anxiety to low self esteem and stress.

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The Apprentice activity - shared by Jayne Woodruff, Essex IV Service

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The Apprentice activity - shared by Jayne Woodruff, Essex IV Service

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You heard it! Explore EDI, unconscious bias and prejudice through the popular format of The Apprentice reality TV show!

This group activity is to explore unconscious bias and prejudice. We explain to the group the challenge; one engineer is going to be selected to set up life on the moon and there are seven hopeful candidates. Participants play the role of Alan Sugar and have to fire one candidate on the basis of the first name alone. The surname is then revealed and they are asked to fire a second candidate.  Other protected characteristics are layered on.

This exercise follows information sharing on definitions of equality and diversity, stereotypes and prejudice.

At the end of the activity, we share information and have a discussion about unconscious bias.

Activity outcomes:

·         It allows the facilitators to assess how well participants have absorbed information in relation to the care-experience and specifically care journey

·         It’s an example of aural and visual learning

Resources:

·         Activity script

·         Sets of printed first name of ‘engineer’ candidates for participants and a copy of the layered protected characteristics that are revealed one by one, by the facilitator

·         Unconscious bias handout

ZIP folder includes:

Worksheet for volunteers

Activity guidance for volunteers

Unconscious bias handout

Activity powerpoint

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The self-assessment template is intended to be used as a tool
to review and evidence progress of IV volunteer training schemes against the nine Training Principles.

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This document sets out nine principles to quality assure and benchmark Independent Visitor induction training content. Whilst these principles are not intended to be prescriptive the recommendation is that training content enables Independent Visitors to achieve the stated learning outcomes.

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Mental Health Foundation's Information Packs

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Mental Health Foundation's Information Packs

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These publications contain high-quality, evidence-based information on a variety of mental health topics.

They are free to download, and the most popular publications are also available to buy in print.

These publications are used by businesses and organisations across the UK, helping thousands of people manage and maintain their mental health.

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They are free to download, and our most popular publications are also available to buy in print.

Our publications are used by businesses and organisations across the UK, helping thousands of people manage and maintain their mental health.

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Read or order a full list of our publications around mental health as well as our 'How to Look After Your Mental Health' guides.

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The idea underpinning learning styles is that individuals all have a particular approach to or style of learning.

The theory is that learning will therefore be more effective or more efficient if people are taught using the specific style or approach that has been identified as their learning style.

For example, volunteers categorised as having a ​‘listening’ learning style, could be taught more through storytelling and discussion and less through traditional written exercises.

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Ending of Involvement with the IV Scheme document

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Ending of Involvement with the IV Scheme document

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Sets out guidelines and some questions for matches to consider when matches are due to become informal soon. Produced by Leeds CC Independent Visitors Scheme.

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Case studies of matches that have successfully continued informally, collated by Leeds IV Service.