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PODS Afternoon Tea & More...

PODS Afternoon Tea

Wednesday 25th March 2020 from 12pm-2pm at All Nations Telford, Holyhead Road, Ketley, TF1 5DS

Come along and join us for an Afternoon Tea, the way it's supposed to be. Relax and enjoy freshly made sandwiches, cakes and scones served on a tiered tray, with freshly made tea and coffee served in beautiful vintage style tea cups and saucers. This event is open to all family and friends of PODS members. There will be a raffle on the day. All money raised will go towards further PODS Events.

Booking is essential, to book your place, please click here: PODS Afternoon Tea

SENextra March Newsletter

Coronavirus Guidance from Carers UK

Carers UK have a released a Guidance about Coronavirus. If you are worried that you or someone you look after may be at risk, NHS 111 can offer direct guidance as they have set up an online coronavirus helpline. You can also call 111, letting them know that you are a carer.

Even if you are not showing symptoms, it's important to use this service if you’ve been in close contact to someone with the virus or if you’ve been to one or more of the places listed on the NHS website in the last 14 days. 

To read the Guidance in full, please click here: Coronavirus Guidance from Carers UK

Governors Wanted for Haughton School

Haughton School are looking for School Governors, for more information, please see the poster below.

Court Street Community March Time Table

Mark Taylor Support Ltd - Life Skills Afternoon Tea 

Mark Taylor Support Ltd's Life Skills Project are holding a Sport Relief Afternoon Tea & Games on Friday 13th March.

Challenging Perceptions Sensory Room

Challenging Perceptions Sensory Room is at Park Lane Centre, and is open weekdays from 9am-5pm, £2.50 for 30 minutes per child. For more details, please see the poster below.

GP Out of Hours Information

Information about 'Out of Hours' accessibility for appointments including weekends and evenings, available via ALL Telford Doctors. 

Patients registered at any Telford and Wrekin GP practice are able to access additional appointments outside the normal 8.00am-6.30pm weekday opening hours: 

• Weekdays (Monday-Friday) from 6.30pm-and 8pm 
• Weekends and bank holidays from 8am-8pm 

Patients are able to pre-book appointments, for the majority of services, by contacting their own GP practice during normal opening hours. If you are unable to get through to your own practice or the practice is closed, your call will be diverted to the Extended Access Call Centre and you will be offered an appointment either with a local GP, nurse or other healthcare professional. For further information, please click here: GP Out of Hours Information

PODS Chocolate Egg Fundraiser

PICK A NUMBER FROM 1-100, £2 A GO FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A GIANT CHOCOLATE EASTER EGG. 

There will be a number chart available at PODS family groups and activities throughout March and the beginning of April for you to choose your number/numbers. Money must be paid at the time of picking your number. The lucky number will be selected at random on Tuesday 14th April 2020 at PODS Easter Family Event at Park Lane Centre. Good Luck!!

Forum News Update From Jayne Stevens - Strategic Co-ordinator

A bit of an update and apologies already if you missed last weeks I was straight into preparations and planning for a presentation for JSNA (Joint Strategic Needs Assessment) document - this is a joint piece of work across Health, Social Care and Education - bringing together lots of data and statistics and most importantly the parent carer voice and experiences - all 40 slides of a presentation! The actual presentation day was on Wednesday and we were joined by teams from across the council, including early years, mental health, SEND education team, Early Help (Strengthening Families), Social Care (childrens and adults), Healthy Child teams, and many more. We also heard (via IASS) from a young lady who is part of the 'Shout out for SEND Team' - sharing her own experiences which was very powerful to hear. 

We've had a couple of family groups too - one at Park Lane Centre (Pancake Day was a a great hit and plenty of yummy goodies - and a healthy option of course!), and Admaston - one of my favourite groups because of the lovely room and comfy sofa's - perfect way to start the week. We've also had the opportunity to go to a secondary school and a special school 'SEN session' - and it's great to meet families where they feel most comfortable  :) We were able to share our information about our wider offer and also to share experiences that all get fed into the strategic work that I do. 

I have started attending COG groups again - this brings wider community and voluntary sector organisations together and it was great to hear of the work of others and how we can look to share this and get involved, eg a social walking group to help us to get fitter and we were also able to share our couch to 5k idea too. 

Of course, we've had 2 social care transition/PfA sessions this week with lots of notes taken and some really key discussions for families who do access the social care team, and also those that don't and what can be put in place to support at a 'lower-level time-limited' stage - lots to discuss and definitely something on my radar here - along with everything else. 

Behind the scenes stuff and wider team - the befriender training is ready to be rolled out tomorrow (Tuesday 10th) with Lin leading on that, we've met as a senior management team (led by Elaine, with Kerrie and myself), and Uma and Jo have been busy planning family groups, events (inc the football on Saturday and the Afternoon Tea on 25th March which we hope to see as many of you at as possible. 

Today, we have our own Steering Group meeting - bringing together our reps to share good practice and the wider experiences of families and later today we will be preparing for the Early Years event, it's SNAC family group on Wednesday morning and then the new 16-25 group in Newport on Thursday :) 

Have a good week all - and catch up soon. 
Best Regards 
Jayne Stevens 

Come and join us at our Family Groups in 2020...

Wednesday 11th March 2020: PODS Hollinswood Family Group from 9.30am-11am at Hollinswood Pavilion Community Centre, Draycott, Telford, TF3 2DN. To book your place, please click here

Thursday 12th March 2020: PODS 16-25 yrs Parent Carer Family Group from 12.30pm-2.30pm at The Hub Newport, 139 High Street, Newport, Telford, TF10 7BH. To book your place, please click here

Sunday 29th March 2020: Wacky Warehouse March Family Group from 9.30am-11am at the Wacky Warehouse Bridge Builder Pub, Arleston, TF1 2DE. To book your place, please click here

Monday 30th March 2020: PODS Forum 16-25 yrs Parent Carer Family Group from 12.30pm-2.30pm at The Wakes, Theatre Square, Oakengates, Telford, TF2 6EP. To book your place, please click here

Thank you for reading our latest bulletin. 

Kerrie Seagrave

Administration Co-ordinator on behalf of PODS Parent Carer Forum.

We hope you enjoyed reading our latest e-bulletin - we hope you continue to find it useful. If you have any suggestions to make it better feel free to let me know.