From Herefordshire Safeguarding Boards and Partnerships
Information Resources for Herefordshire
Welcome to the ninth Information Bulletin from Herefordshire Safeguarding Boards and Partnerships of 2021. We will continue to publish regular updates with Coronavirus (COVID-19) and other safeguarding related information for professionals in Herefordshire.
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The Knife Angel is a stunning 27ft, 3.5 ton, sculpture of an angel made out of 100,000 confiscated knives received from 43 Police Forces across the UK. It will be coming to Hereford Cathedral from 14 June to 12 July 2021.
Originating from The British Ironwork Centre in Oswestry and created by sculptor Alfie Bradley, it has been on tour of towns and cities around Britain raising awareness of the issues of knife crime and all forms of violence and aggression.
During the Knife Angel’s stay in Hereford, there will be a;
Series of free public workshops and events at the Cathedral and venues in the City.
National Conference, engaging with professionals in related spheres. This will be an online, ticketed event.
Youth Conference, identifying young people’s needs and issues which they feel have a negative impact on them and their community.
Weapon amnesty in operation for the duration of the Angel’s visit, approved by West Mercia Police, a secure weapon surrender bin travels with The Angel.
Opening Ceremony and Closing Vigil.
For more information on the Knife Angel in Hereford visit the official website knifeangelhereford.co.uk
West Mercia Women's Aid who provide domestic abuse support to women, men and young people throughout all of the West Mercia region as well as Gloucestershire have a new website.
We wanted to re-post a link to one of our previous bulletins which was entirely focussed on sources of Domestic Abuse information and advice, because of the importance of this issue and the extra challenges brought by Covid-19 that will not go away just because lockdown is easing.
Some resources on that link are targeted at Herefordshire residents, produced by West Mercia Women's Aid and other local partners, and some are national initiatives but still relevant here.
The next #LookCloser awareness week is running between 17th – 23rd May 2021.
#LookCloser is a partnership campaign between The Children’s Society, the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre and the British Transport Police aiming to raise awareness of child exploitation and abuse, with a particular focus on public spaces. The campaign also seeks to challenge stereotypes of victimhood, highlighting that child exploitation can happen anywhere, and any young person can be a victim.
In advance of the week of action, we are pleased to share our latest version of the #LookCloser digital pack ready for use from the 17th May 2021. The majority of the content included in the digital pack is the same as the last iteration, however the dates have been updated alongside some small tweaks to the content and the social media resource. Please use this pack moving forwards rather than the older iteration of the pack.
You can download the English version of the digital pack via this link or this link to zip file
You can download the Welsh version of the digital pack via this link
The #LookCloser poster and leaflet have been translated into 17 different languages and you can download them via this link.
Please note the links expire after 7 days, so please download and save the digital pack onto your computer for future use.
As part of the #LookCloser awareness week, The Children's Society’s Prevention Programme will be co-ordinating a virtual Programme of Learning. We will soon be forwarding a timetable with a range of learning sessions designed for professionals, partners and the public to reinforce the objectives of the campaign.
The better weather has finally arrived just in time for the next phase of unlock. I’m sure we’re all looking forward to seeing friends and family again, after such a long time, we’ll never take meeting up for a coffee or sitting inside at the pub for granted again!
Just because lockdown is easing, it doesn’t mean we have to do everything on our wish list within the first 48 hours! It’s important to remember COVID hasn’t disappeared completely, be sensible, yes enjoy the new relaxed rules but the tried and tested messages of hands, space and face remain sound sensible advice for us all to follow. With everyone having access to home testing kits, I’d encourage you all to take advantage of getting tested regularly.
We are all hoping the latest unlock phase goes well, ahead of the 21st June, lets continue the great work already seen across Herefordshire and continue to support our brilliant NHS colleagues.
Stay safe!
Superintendent Edd Williams
West Mercia Police
Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Professional Differences Policy
Case reviews, nationally and in Herefordshire, have routinely highlighted the importance of professionals challenging decisions to ensure the best outcomes for children and their families.
The Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership supports and promotes a culture of professional challenge and has devised the Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Professional Differences Policy for timely and effective case resolutions.
This policy explains what to do when a professional has a concern or a professional difference with another agency decision or action related to a child or young person. The policy also provides guidance on how to respond to that challenge.
We are pleased to announce our new and much improved system for booking and managing your multi agency safeguarding training is now live.
The web address herefordshirecpd.co.uk remains the same as before but when you access the site now you will be taken to a completely new booking system that is very simple, efficient and much easier to use. You will see from the screenshot below that courses are easy to find and the system shows at a glance how many places are available on any course. Remember that any log in details for the old system will not work on the new site so a new account must be created.
As we are focussed on getting as many people trained as we can, most training will now be FREE to attend for all participants. Non-attendance will understandably continue to be charged for, so that valuable training places are not wasted. This means that a cost code or purchase order number is required when booking most courses.
We have places available on a range of safeguarding training courses throughout May.
Signs of Safety training for multi-agency professionals
We will soon release dates for multi-agency training courses on Signs of Safety – watch out for courses available soon on herefordshirecpd.co.uk
Herefordshire Council is adopting Signs of Safety as its core practice model for children’s social care to transform the way services are delivered and to help build trusting and purposeful relationships with children and their Family Network, in order to make more of a difference. Professionals across Herefordshire will therefore need to understand the Signs of Safety approach, be able to use it in their everyday work, and for when they work alongside Herefordshire children’s social care.
This is an essential course for multi-agency professionals to get to know the Signs of Safety approach in children’s social care. Participants will gain an understanding of Signs of Safety as a practice framework and will be introduced to the tools, language and approach when working with children and families, across the spectrum of Early Help to care experienced young people.
Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing, sources of support for children and young people
This Herefordshire specific guide to sources of support was created for schools and colleges to use in order to support their students - particularly those returning to educational settings. It may also be useful for a wider professional audience and can be downloaded here: Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing, sources of support for children and young people.
NSPCC Helpline
Home isn’t always a safe place. Schools closing could put some children at greater risk of abuse and neglect and that’s why we’re supporting the NSPCC. If you’re worried about a child or young person, or if you notice that something just doesn’t seem right, the NSPCC is here. You can talk to their helpline team who offer free support and guidance on 0808 800 5000 (8am-10pm Mon-Fri / 9am-6pm weekends) or you can email help@nspcc.org.uk 24/7.
Do you have a good news story to share?
The past year has of course been difficult for everyone, including in the area of safeguarding, but we know that many professionals have adapted to the challenging times that we have all faced and come up with new and innovative ways of working.
We would love to showcase these to help inspire others, so if you have a successful new way of working, or just a general good news story about working in safeguarding in the last year that you would like us to include in a future bulletin then please get in touch with the team and let us know.
COVID-19 vaccinations for Herefordshire residents
For the latest information and updates about Covid-19 vaccinations in Herefordshire visit the Herefordshire Council website.
