Sunderland's Family Hubs

SEND Local Offer

Sunderland

All children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) should have the right support and opportunities, at the right time, so that they can become resilient, happy and independent adults and lead fulfilling lives.

SEND offer and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities

Breathing Space is an innovative whole family project that provides valuable space, time and support for young people with additional needs and their parents and carers.

Supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities age 0-25.

Lumi Nova - Fun digital therapy for childhood anxiety

Rainbow guide - Sunderland's guide to SEND support by Parents Carers for parents Carers

The Disabled Children Register (DCR) is a list of children and young people in Sunderland who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Creating opportunities to inspire disabled children and young people

underland Talking Therapies (formally Sunderland Psychological Wellbeing Service) provide a range of treatments for people with common mental health problems.

If you want to understand more about how you're feeling and find ways to feel better, or you are a parent / carer and want to support someone who's struggling. Links for life has lots of hints, tips, resources and local and national services to help.

Mental Health: children and young people

Support advice and service for children and young peoples mental health.

Teenage girl sitting on stairs writing help

Families Information Service

The Max Card is designed to make days out more financially accessible for families of children with additional needs.The card offers free or discounted entry to great attractions. So what is the Max Card?Max Card is a national scheme and its aim is to provide a sense of community through stimulating learning experiences and enjoyable days out for everyone.It is the UK’s leading discount card for foster families and families of children with additional needs.  Families simply show their Max Card upon entry to a participating venue in order to obtain free or discounted admission.The scheme is designed to help these families save money on great days out at castles, zoos, bowling alleys and more.To find out which venues are included in the Max Card scheme, visit the Max Card website. How can I obtain a Max Card?If you are a parent/carer of a child with additional needs, and live in Sunderland you simply need to sign your child up to the Disabled Children's Register using the Max Card/Sunderland Disabled Register form (Link below) Max Cards are issued when a parent registers their child or children on the Sunderland Disabled Children Register.  For further assistance please contact Families Information Service either by telephone or email. How can I renew a Max Card?If a family require a card to be renewed, this can be done by using the Max Card renewal form (Link below)

Max Card - Sunderland disabled children's register

Please use this link if you wish to register your child/children on Sunderland Disabled Children's Register for the first time.

If you wish to renew your Max Card, please use this link.

Children’s Occupational Therapy Department

Childrens Occupational Therapy are a specialist service, who work with children and young people aged from birth to 18 years, who are unable to complete the daily occupations they need to, want to or are required to do. Daily life is made up of many occupations such as: · Self-care tasks such as feeding, dressing, bathing and brushing teeth.· Productivity tasks such as handwriting, using scissors and using a ruler.· Leisure activities such as riding a bike and enabling children and young people to be able to play with toys. We work with the child or young person and their family to identify meaningful goals. We complete a range of assessments to identify any barriers to a child’s occupational performance and use graded meaningful activities to maintain, develop and maximise their independence in their daily occupations. Children can be referred to Children’s Occupational Therapy via their Sunderland Royal Hospital Paediatric Consultant. Referrals are accepted for children living in Sunderland with a Sunderland GP.

A guide from occupational therapy service to support dressing skills with your child

A guide from occupational therapy service to support your child using cutlery

A guide from occupational therapy service to support your child's teeth brushing

Childrens Occupational Therapy

Child holding toys with a therapist smiling

Childrens Occupational Therapy - South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust

Parenting and relationships team

We know parenting isn't always easy and family life has lots of challenges along the way. If you're finding things at home tough we are here to help through our Achieving Better Connections (ABC) sessions for parents / carers. ABC: These are weekly sessions for 2 hours for 6 weeks and will cover the following topics, Good Enough Parenting, Healthy Child Development, Emotional Resilience, Family Values and Healthy Boundaries and Safer Communities. If you would like a snap shot of the ABC sessions please access the links in the service section. Following completion of the ABC sessions we have additional sessions, called Bolt Ons, that can be accessed following a discussion with the facilitator.  Bolt on's to these sessions are: ·       ASD·       ADHD·       Violent and Aggressive Behaviour (VAB) The bolt on's have been created to support parents/carers with children who have additional needs or requiring further support.  The ADHD and ASD bolt on's focus upon understanding the diagnosis with tailored support and advice.  The VAB bolt on focuses upon understanding challenging behaviour, what increases the risk and how to de-escalate situations. ABC Snapshots: The Snapshots provide an overview of the information from the Achieving Better Connections (ABC) sessions which are available, for free, within your local Family Hub.The Snapshots contain a short presentation that can be read or listened to from the comfort of your own home.  The Snapshots provide information around building relationships, child development and emotional resilience and how we as parents can support our children in their journey to adulthood.

Parenting and Relationships

Support around your relationship and online learning

We all want to keep our children safe, bumps and grazes are a normal part of childhood however accidents can be fatal but many can be prevented.The websites and resources below offer a lot of useful information from summer water safety, fire safety, choking, road safety, the dangers of button batteries and much more.

Child Safety and Accident Prevention

Safer sleep advice and bereavement support from the lullaby trust

Water safety advice from the RLSS for home and holidays.

Safe and well check from your local fire brigade

Childrens hands with Safety written on in face paint

Video exploring the dangers of button batteries

How to save a choking child - British Red Cross

Help and advice about alcohol and drugs for young people, parents or carers.

Support around drug and alcohol use

Information, advice and support for young people

Information, advice and support for parents and carers

Information advice and signposting via links for life Sunderland

Support service for young people up to 18 years or 25 years with care experienced

Change grow live service for adults, support around drug and alcohol use

Good sexual health is an important element of health and wellbeing. Links for Life Sunderland can signpost you to lots of useful support, information and services.

Sexual health

Sunderland sexual health services, local GP or pharmacy and C Card.

Post it note on clip board saying sexual health