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PODS Announce the Launch of our New Service - Nurture & Grow & Lots More...

PODS is Delighted to Announce the Upcoming Launch of our New Service, Nurture & Grow

We have listened to our community and repeatedly heard how families struggle to find appropriate, affordable, and reliable support services, as demand far outweighs supply. With this in mind, PODS is delighted to announce the upcoming launch of our new service, Nurture & Grow. This initiative will be care for the community, provided by the community.

Nurture & Grow will have a two-pronged approach. First and foremost, we aim to deliver high-quality, reliable care through a team of nurturing, person-centred, and experienced professionals. Secondly, any funds generated from this service will be reinvested to sustain PODS Charity and our broader activities and events, ensuring our long-term sustainability.

This initiative means that by supporting you, we also support ourselves, allowing us to continue delivering our vital services and staying true to our charitable mission well into the future. Ultimately, this will benefit the entire community and ensure we can support families for many years to come.

To find out more please contact nurture@podstelford.org or call Louise on 07767975592

Job Opportunities with Nurture & Grow

Role: Personal Support Assistant.

Salary: £12- £12.50 per hour depending on experience. Working hours: 0-hour contract, (Anticipated minimum of 12 hours) Evening and weekend hours only.

We are looking for compassionate, caring and dedicated individuals to join our exciting new venture in Telford & Wrekin. We are a support service based on the values and ethos of our founder award winning charity PODS (Parents Opening Doors). This new service has been designed by the community for the community.

We are Looking for experienced individuals to join our personal support team, to provide care in the community. Our Team always promotes inclusivity to ensure young people with additional needs and disabilities have every opportunity to achieve their full potential.

The ideal candidate will be patient, kind and eager to create fun and stimulating environments for children and young people with disabilities and additional needs.

For full Job Description please click here: Personal Support Assistant Job Description

Or to apply click here to download an application form: Application Form

Interviews week commencing Monday 8th July 2024

For any further information please contact nurture@podstelford.org or call Louise on 07767975592.

PODS Stop Motion Video Club

Monday 1st July 2024 at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

PODS Stop Motion Video Club resumes from Jan 2024. The children/young people will be provided with Lego and Ipads to help make the stop motion videos. Cost is £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 Minecraft Club

Tuesday 2nd July 2024 from 4pm-5pm at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

A chance to come together and enjoy a session of Minecraft. Please note Minecraft will be accessed via PODS iPads which are linked to one another to allow multiplayer options. Children will not be able to access their own Minecraft accounts for safety reasons. 
Sessions open to children and young people of all ages who are members of PODS including their siblings.

Drinks and biscuits provided. 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, those attending without a ticket will be turned away. Adult tickets are NOT required.

To book, please click here: PODS Minecraft Club

PODS Lego Club

Wednesday 3rd July from 4.30pm to 5.30pm 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 Mental Health Drop In

Thursday 4th July 2024 from 10am-11.30am at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

Come and join us for our Mental Health Drop In, in a safe and non-judgemental environment. 

We will have tea, coffee, biscuits, cakes, and a listening ear ready for you. 

Whether you would like to off load, have a warm cuppa, or just want someone to talk too. We are here for you.

To book, please click here: PODS Mental Health Drop In

PODS Social Support Group at Blists Hill

Wednesday 17th July 2024 from 10am-12pm at PODS Hub, 1 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, TF2 9TU

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. 

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: PODS Social Support Group at Blists Hill

PODS Picnic in the Park

Monday 5th August 2024 from 10am-4pm at Charlton School, Apley Avenue, Wellington, Telford, TF1 3FA

Come along and join in the fun, we will have lots of activities available on the day, including:

• A Gaming Van
• Bouncy Castles
• Photobooth
• Face Painting and much more!

For more information, please contact Joanne, Tel: 07816 643747 or email: events@podstelford.org

FREE NEW Counselling Support Service for Young People aged 18 to 25 with Serious Mental Illness

The counselling sessions are FREE and can be online or face to face. Young People can self-refer or be referred by a Professional.  

As they are just launching their service, they currently have no waiting time to be seen. 

Research Project - Links Between Self-Reported and Caregiver-Reported Sensory Questionnaires and Alexithymia Traits

DISCLAIMER: We have been asked to share this research project and we are not affiliated or endorsing it in anyway.

"We are conducting research as part of a final year undergraduate psychology degree project titled: ‘LINKS BETWEEN SELF-REPORTED AND CAREGIVER-REPORTED SENSORY QUESTIONNAIRES AND ALEXITHYMIA TRAITS ‘. We are gathering responses from children about what sensory experiences they prefer in their daily lives and comparing this to what parents/caregivers perceive as the child’s sensory preferences. Some children can have difficulties with understanding and labelling emotions, so we are interested in how this affects their ability to report on their sensory preferences. This information will help us to better measure children’s sensory preferences in the future and may be useful for helping support children with sensory processing differences. 

For this project we are looking for children between the ages of 7-15 and their parents/caregivers to complete some online questionnaires (50 minutes in total, 30mins for parents, 20mins for child). Parents/caregivers will be asked to complete a brief demographic questionnaire and online questionnaire on their child’s autistic traits regardless of any diagnosis, sensory preferences and ability to understand and label their emotions and other’s emotions. Children will be asked to complete a questionnaire on their sensory preferences.  

Note that the project has received favourable opinion for ethical conduct by the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading [ref: 2023-169-CM, end date: 22/11/2024]. Researchers have also obtained an enhanced DBS certificate.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in contact with Rain Jefferis (student researcher; b.jefferis@student.reading.ac.uk) or Dr Cathy Manning (Principal Investigator; c.a.manning@reading.ac.uk/0118 378 3454). 

Action for Happiness Calendar - Jump Back Up July 2024

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.