Individual Support
Early help support is available at the children’s centre for families who live in the West area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. A Wellbeing Practitioner will be allocated to support the family; they work 1 to 1 with families and usually support families for around 6 months. The aim of their support is to empower parents to improve outcomes for children and their families. Practitioners work with families to support them with areas that they need support with. For example this could be difficulties due to parenting concerns such as managing children’s behaviour, mental health illness, domestic abuse, financial concerns or isolation. Family Star is a tool which can be used in partnership with parents as part of the support. The Wellbeing Practitioner will create a plan of support in partnership with the parent. The plan and support will be based on the children and family’s individual needs. Support varies depending on the family’s needs. Support can include parenting advice, advice around family relationships, housing and benefit advice, employment advice, signposting and referrals to other agencies, support to access children’s centre groups and much more. Please see our referral criteria for more information.
We also run Quaggy Community Counselling Service across our centres. If you want to find out more information about counselling then visit our counselling page.
GWCC Criteria for Early Help Referrals
Within GWCC we are committed to providing the best service and support for families that are most in need that are living within our reach area. We accept direct referrals from MASH at the Royal Borough of Greenwich, all other referrers need to complete a referral form. Please note that for referrals to be accepted they need to have consent from the parent or carer and the following criteria applies:
- There has to be child under 5 years of age
- The presenting issues need to be about or affecting the under 5 year old, if the issues are around the older children the referral may be better directed to FaASS (Family and Adolescent Support Service) within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
We have categorised levels of presenting needs into minor and high level as detailed in the box below. We will accept referrals with any number of minor needs but will only accept referrals with one high level need.
Minor Needs
Unemployment, SEND, Housing, Engagement, Parenting, Isolation
High Level Needs
Substance Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Mental Health, Sexual Abuse, Extremism, Trafficking
- There is a limit to the number of cases that a member of staff can work with, if this limit is reached we will operate a waiting list system
- Most of the work we undertake with families should not be open for more than 6 months, all cases will reviewed regularly during case supervisions with staff.
Wellbeing practitioners also support families where their child is on a Child Protection or Child In Need plan. The Practitioner will support the families to access groups at the children’s centre. Wellbeing Practitioners will work closely with other professionals involved in the Child Protection and Child In Need plan.
If you would like to make a referral for support please complete the online referral form or download a hard copy, complete and and send to naomi@quaggychildrenscentre.org.uk and joanna@quaggychildrenscentre.org.uk
Download Referral Form (Word)
Download Referral Form (PDF)
If you have any questions about early help support please contact Naomi Thompson Early Help Lead on 07563 029087 or naomi@quaggychildrenscentre.org.uk
Quotes from Parents
Listen to a parent’s feedback of the support received.
‘I felt fully involved, it was clear and easy to understand, it felt like a conversation, like the first time someone had really listened to me’
"The best thing about early help support is the wellbeing practitioner. Having so much support with no judgement makes so much difference. ".