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Barnardo’s partnership launched

We are delighted to announce that Switch is partnering with Barnardo’s to provide support for children and young people returning to schools in September.

Switch, a Wolverhampton based social enterprise that supports children and young people’s emotional well-being, has been awarded a contract to be a delivery partner for the national charity Barnardo’s. Switch will be delivering the ‘See Hear Respond’ programme in Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire by offering support to pupils returning to school in September.

Children and young people have been out of school, feeling stuck at home or locked out of their usual support systems, and it has been harder than ever for children and young people to get the help they need. In many cases, hidden harms like online grooming, inequalities amongst BAME communities, criminal and sexual exploitation and domestic abuse are still impacting on children, but with fewer support agencies seeing children they can feel isolated and alone.

As a result, ‘See Hear Respond’ has been launched by Barnardo’s to fill the widening gap for children and young people during COVID-19. Until 31st October 2020 Barnardo’s and the Department for Education will be funding Switch to work directly with schools and other agencies to find those children who are hidden from view; who are not receiving support currently from statutory organisations and who are at risk and/or experiencing adverse impact to their health and wellbeing.

Tim Wakefield, Switch Director explained “The aim of this fantastic programme is to provide short term wrap around support to help de-escalate issues and support children with re-integration to education. It is a great opportunity for schools and agencies to access our service knowing that Barnardo’s and the DfE will be funding it. This will make a massive difference as we know school budgets are already stretched to breaking point this year, yet more and more pupils will need mental health and well-being support.”

To allow as many children and families to access support at this critical time, schools and other agencies are being urged to make referrals to the programme as soon as possible via https://www.barnardos.org.uk/see-hear-respond, by calling free phone number 0800 157 7015 or by contacting Switch directly.