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PODS October Activities, Clubs, Groups & Lots More...

PODS October Activities

Join PODs this October for a variety of activities! Booking essential and parent/carer attendance essential. Open to children and young people, including siblings. Please book via the links below:

Freestyle Drawing 

Tech and Games 

Blists Hill

Inflata Nation 

Halloween Cooking 

Halloween Crafts 

PODS MenSpace

Tuesday 10th October 2023 from 12pm-2pm at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

A chance to put the world to rights over cake and coffee! 

Join us at the MenSpace group. A group dedicated to male carers. These groups are guided by you, you can talk about whatever you want, and give us all chance to help each other out. You will also be able to influence how these groups run in the future by feeding back what you want from the group and how we can achieve this. 

To book, please click here: PODS MenSpace

PODS PFA Open Room

Tuesday 10th October 2023 from 6pm-7.30pm at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

This group is aimed at those parents/carers of young people aged between 14 and 25 to have a chat and share experiences over tea, coffee, and biscuits.  

Loads of relevant information will be available during the group and I will be available to answer any questions or discuss specific difficulties. If you are unable to make it, please feel free to contact me on: matt@podstelford.org

To book, please click here: PODS PFA Open Room

PODS Social - Anime (12-25s)

Wednesday 11th October 2023 from 6pm-7.30pm at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

PODS are hosting a Social Session for young people aged 12 years to 25 years and their siblings. All our Social Sessions have a very relaxed atmosphere but there is always a specific focus. This session is: ANIME.  

Tickets cost £3 per young person attending. All the materials needed will be provided to all the young people booked. Young People are welcome to bring their own anime creations and/or references. Parents/carers to stay on the site during the session. All tickets are non-refundable.

To book, please click here: PODS Social - Anime (12-25s)

PODS World Mental Health Day Coffee Morning

Tuesday 10th October from 10am-12pm at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

Join us at our PODS World Mental Health Day Coffee Morning, for a cuppa and a catch up with other parent carers.

Looking after our own Mental Health is so very important, especially as parent carers. Why not take an hour to yourself this World Mental Health Day and spend some time with others that understand.

We will be doing mindfulness colouring, small tile painting, and will have a tree of positivity for you to add kind messages too. We will also have cakes and refreshments on offer. We look forward to seeing you.

To book, please click here: PODS World Mental Health Day Coffee Morning

PODS Minecraft Club

Tuesday 12th September 2023 - Tuesday 19th December from 4pm-5pm at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

Join PODS for a chance to come together and enjoy a session of Minecraft. Sessions open to children and young people of all ages who are members of PODS including their siblings. 

Refreshments included. Parent/carer attendance is required and a ticket must be purchased for each child or young person.

To book, please click here: PODS Minecraft Club

PODS Stop Motion Video Club

Wednesday 4th October 2023 from 4pm-5pm at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

Does your child/young person like to make videos? 

If yes then PODS is starting an after school Stop Motion Video Club to enable the children and young people make stop motion videos using Lego. All equipment and items needed will be provided.  

Tickets cost £3 per child/young person. Please contact Uma at uma@podstelford.org for any details.

To book, please click here: PODS Stop Motion Video Club

PODS Widgit Workshop

Thursday 12th October 2023 from 10am-11am at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

PODS is holding a Widgit workshop for the members to understand how to use Widgits for the benefit of our children/young people. We will be covering topics like:

• Making daily time table / routines 
• Making social story
• Supporting language development
• Supporting transitions

This will be helpful as a lot of the children/young people are visual learners

To book, please click here: PODS Widgit Workshop

'Design a PODS Christmas Card' Competition & PODS Christmas Card Design Session

With Christmas fast approaching we are running our popular Christmas card competition again.

We would love for you to get creative and get involved, this can be as a family or your child/young person. We will choose 4 winning designs, that will then be made into our Christmas cards to be sent to all our families.

You can also join us for our popular PODS Christmas Card Design Session on Saturday 4th November from 10am-12pm at PODS Hub. Each person booked can submit as many designs as they want to. We will have juice, tea, coffee and biscuits too. 

Please note that each person attending needs to be booked. 

To book, please click here: PODS Christmas Card Design Session

Please submit your entries to kerrie@podstelford.org by 5th November.

Blists Hill Family Group

Wednesday 27th September 2023 from 10am-12pm at Blists Hill Victorian Town, Telford, TF7 5UD

Come and join us at PODS Family Group in Blists Hill Victorian Town for a chat, relax and meet with friendly faces. Ask us for some advice or just enjoy a walk around the village. Please note a facemask is required in some parts of the village. Tickets are available at a subsidised cost of £3 per person. PODS will provide 1 tea/coffee/soft drink to each person booked, however you will have to purchase your own other refreshments if required.  

Places are limited and booking is essential, open to all PODS members living in Telford and Wrekin. Please note that the tickets are non-refundable. Children, of any age, are welcome however if they are under 2 years old, no ticket is required. We will be meeting at the entrance at 10am, please let us know if you will be late or can no longer make it so as the group can enter on time.

To book, please click here: Blists Hill Family Group

PODS Lego Club - Spaces still Available

Monday 2nd October 2023 from 4pm-5pm at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford TF2 9TU

PODS Lego Club is running sessions for children from 5-14 years old during Term Time. The children will be building as well as be able to improve their  to social and communication skills. 

Session costs are non-refundable, parent/carer/PA must remain on site for the duration of the session. Please ensure every child/young person attending has a ticket.

To book, please click here: PODS Lego Club

PODS Admaston Family Group

Monday 2nd October 2023 from 10am-12pm at Admaston House Community Centre, Telford, TF5 0BN

Join us at our friendly Family group, a chance to catch up on updates, discuss services and access non-judgemental peer support with fellow parent carers. We will have ​Telford Children's Autism Hub with us on the day to talk about the services they provide. 

Any family members welcome to join us and we'll supply the refreshments and treats too (donations welcome).

To book, please click here: PODS Admaston Family Group

DLD (Developmental Language Disorder) Awareness Day 2023 - Friday 20th October

Sharing from Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder website...

"Developmental Language Disorder is a hidden but common disability that affects 1 in 14 people causing difficulties understanding and using language for no known reason. The 2023 DLDday theme is DLD Around the World, highlighting that DLD occurs in every language."

To find out more about Developmental Language Disorder, please click here: Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder 

Beam - Updated Service Information

World Mental Health Day Tea and Chat at Park Lane Centre

Monday 9th October from 10am-12pm at Park Lane Centre, Park Lane, Woodside, Telford, TF7 5QZ

PODS will be at this event, pop along and have a cup of tea and chat with us.

Hidden Disabilities Sunflower

National Highways traffic officers are often first on scene in an emergency on England's motorways and major A-roads. Displaying the Sunflower sticker or magnet on the rear of your vehicle will indicate to traffic officers that you or someone in your vehicle has a non-visible disability. 

You can order ONE free Sunflower for your vehicle. The Sunflower is free to road users in England and comes as a sticker or a magnet: On the road - Shop (hdsunflower.com)

West Midlands Gambling Harms Clinic

West Midlands Gambling Harms Clinic is a new NHS service which has recently started up.

Key information about the service:

• The new NHS West Midlands Gambling Harms Service is being delivered by Inclusion (part of MPFT).
• The service is open to anyone over the age of 18 who is experiencing problems with gambling and are registered with a GP in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, Birmingham, Solihull, Black Country, Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
• Access to the service is through self or professional referral.
• Referrals can be made online or via telephone.
• The clinic is based in Stoke-on-Trent but provision is mostly online- the typical offer is a tailored 10-week programme with continued follow-up.

Further information can be found at their website: About Us - Gambling Harms (midlandsgamblingclinic.org) and on their leaflet here: West Midlands Gambling Harms Clinic

Information from Telford & Wrekin Community Champions

Breast Cancer Awareness

PODS Family Experience Annual Survey 

Please help us to share your experiences with our annual survey.

The evidence from this report is used in discussions with strategic and operational teams - across health, social care, education to work with services to understand the parent carer and family voice, and to improve outcomes.

To take part in the survey, please click the following link: PODS Family Experience Annual Survey 

If you wish to be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 shopping voucher, please complete your name/email/telephone details at the end of the form.

This survey will take approx 6 minutes to complete. nb. All information shared will be anonymised.

Action for Happiness Calendar -  Self-Care September 2023

Please note the above material is subject to copyright, please contact PODS before sharing any of the information in this PODS Ebulletin.

Thank you for reading our latest Ebulletin, please stay safe & well. 

Kerrie Seagrave, Member Support 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.