Getting support now
Please contact the following services dependant on your concern
- If life is at imminent risk, call the emergency services on 999
- Report a concern about a child contact Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub 01472 326292 (option 2) or visit Report a concern about a child (form)
- For concerns around mental health use the 24/7 mental health Single Point of Access on 01472 256256 (option 3) or freephone 08081 968442
Services for support
The Carers’ Support Service is the main port of call for Carers in Northern Lincolnshire. There is a range of free and confidential practical and emotional support on offer. The full offer of support that is available is on their website. This includes things for sibling carers.
Home – Carers Support Service (carerssupportcentre.com)
Call 01472 242277
By taking advantage of a short break, your child can get a break from their usual routine and to try something new and you can have the same.
The Family Hubs are family-friendly units, run by the Council’s children’s services.
They bring together services to offer help and support to children and young people aged 0 to 19 and their families. These hubs can offer vital support. This ranges from Health Visiting, School Nursing, Integrated Family Services and Youth Provision.
To find your nearest family hub, visit Family hubs | NELC (nelincs.gov.uk) or call 01472 326292 (option 1).
As part of our initiative to support autistic people in across North East Lincolnshire more comfortable in their own skin Faraway CIC are delivering support group sessions to help Young People aged 14+ and their families understand what is involved in an autism diagnostic assessment and what it means.
Please email us at info@thefarawaycic.org including your preferred method of contact or call David Willis on 07503 877938.
SENDIASS is a free service for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their parents and carers. They give impartial and confidential information, advice and support.
Call their 24-hour answerphone services on 01472 326363. We aim to respond in 48 hours.
Email, ask@nelsendiass.org.uk. We aim to respond within 3 working days.
Telephone 0808 808 3555.
Contact offers a free helpline which is for parents and carers in any part of the UK with a disabled child aged from birth to 25.
Your child can have any kind of disability or additional need, and you do not need to have a diagnosis.
Monday-Friday, 9.30am-5pm. Every Tuesday the helpline opens at the slightly later time of 10:15am due to a team meeting. Press 1, to speak to an education adviser, press 2 for all other helpline enquires. Access to interpreters from Language Line Solutions.
Visit their website. Contact – for families with disabled children | Contact
Mental Health Support
Compass Go accepts self referral, both from Parent carers and children and young people.
Every school in NEL also has a Mental Health Support Team link worker from this organisation where referrals can also be discussed directly.
To refer into the service please call their duty line on 01472 494250 to discuss suitability with their Duty Workers.
It’s open Monday – Thursday 9am until 5pm, and Friday 9am until 4:30pm or alternatively email nelincsmhst@compass-uk.org or compass.go.mhst@nhs.net.
Schools, young people, and parent carers can get advice from the Community Educational Psychology Service on a range of different topics including learning, social emotional mental health, loss and bereavement, transitions, sleep difficulties, anxieties, and holistic development.
The advice line to parents and settings covers 0-25 years. Please call 01472 323308.
You might be struggling emotionally and looking for strategies to help you cope. Or maybe you just need to talk to someone who understands the extra challenges you face and who can point you in the right direction to get the support you need for your family.
To help, Contact offers 1-1 telephone appointments with a family support adviser for parent carers looking for a listening ear, reassurance and practical and emotional support.
Making an appointment is simple: Choose the day (morning, afternoon or evening), and when you register choose the time slot you want. Appointments are regularly updated and are subject to availability.
Book your appointment online. Listening Ear | Contact
Your child can contact the School Nursing Text Service on 07507331620.
A school nurse offers confidential advice and support on many topics such as mental health, bullying, self-harm, bereavement and any other help or support that a students may need. It is for young people ages 11-19.
The text service is checked Monday to Friday from 9:00am – 5:00pm.
Your child can use Kooth, a free, safe, confidential, and non-stigmatised way for young people aged 11-25 years to receive counselling, advice, and support on-line 365 days a year.
There is no need to complete a referral professionals can signpost and young people can create their own account.
The website is available at all times and Counsellors are available to chat from Monday to Friday from 12:00pm – 10:00pm and on weekends from 6:00pm – 10:00pm.
As well as counselling, young people can find other self-help resources and information on a range of issues that commonly affect children and young people.
NAViGO has a range of mental health support for adults.
Working together
Abi Fleming is the Local Authorities SEND Parent Engagement Champion.
She can listen to your insight and experiences for wider professionals to benefit from, signpost you to support, and attends and holds events that bring together parent carers and professionals to raise awareness about SEND and share information.
Contact her on 01472 323236 or 07552743370. Or email her at abi.fleming@nelincs.gov.uk.
Meet Abi Fleming, the SEND Parent Engagement Champion to discuss your needs and learn what services and organisations could benefit you.
Held twice a week during term time from 9:30 am to 11-30am.
- Monday- Central Family Hub, Edward Street, Grimsby.
- Thursday- Nunsthorpe Family Hub, Sutcliffe Avenue, Grimsby.
The Children’s Disability Service Parents Supporting Parents Group provides an opportunity for parent carers of children and young people with any additional need to come together with a group of likeminded people and share their experiences in a safe and understanding space. They will offer support, advice, signpost to services and give parent carers the respect and the time to talk.
Held every Thursday from Central Family Hub, Edward Street, Grimsby from 9:30 – 11:30am.
Training
Check back to the SEND Local Offer Events and Training page for the latest updates to events and training.
NELC SEND Local Offer | Events and training (nelincs.gov.uk)
KIDS Sleep services provide trained sleep practitioners who are able to support and advise families on their children’s sleep problems and support them to put effective strategies in place. The practitioners also give parents coping mechanisms to help with their own sleep deprivation. Help is provided through the delivery of sleep workshops and individualised support.
To book a place please email Karen.Tyas@kids.org.uk or call 07590 494656.
Find out more about the SEND Sleep Service. South Bank SEND Sleep Service | KIDS
Visit the SEND Local Offer sleep page. NELC SEND Local Offer | Sleep (nelincs.gov.uk).
Workshop topics include:
• New! Speech Language and Communication
• Money Matters – for parents/carers of children aged up to 16 with additional needs
• Encouraging Positive Behaviour in children aged up to 16
• Educational support for school age children with additional needs in England
• Helping your child (aged up to 16) sleep
• Growing up workshops
• Handling meetings: for parents/carers
Find a range of resources including workshops on things like ADHD and anxiety.
Lincs Inspire libraries have a range of books on neurodiversity.
There are books for yourself as a parent carer, your child with SEND, and their siblings or friends to better understand their journey.
Check what’s available at your local library.
My Account – North East Lincsinspire (lincsinspirelibraries.com)
Free learning resource about the mental health of children, young people and older adults. Brief introductions to common issues and problems and it will then direct you to more detailed sessions of learning elsewhere in the MindEd portal MindEd For Families.
Some topics include:
• Anger & Aggression
• Autism Spectrum Disorders Feelings & Emotions
• Poor Concentration & Over-Activity
• Sleep Difficulties
• Tics & Twitches
• Wetting & Soiling
SEND Local Offer
The Local Offer is the place that provides and directs you to information that will support children and young people aged 0 to 25 years with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
If your child does not have a diagnosis, Education Health and Care Plan, or SEND Support in their education setting but you feel they need support in some part of their development, the information on this website can help.
NELC SEND Local Offer | Home (nelincs.gov.uk)
Autism Spectrum Disorder National Autistic Society
The NAS website offers lots of helpful advice, training and guidance for parents, carers and professionals.
National Autistic Society
ADHD ADHD Foundation
The ADHD Foundation website offers lots of helpful advice for those who live with ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and Tourette’s syndrome.
ADHD Foundation
Sleep Sleep Charity
The sleep charity a useful website for advice, education or support for children, teenagers, adults, workplaces or professionals.
Sleep Charity
Behaviour The Challenging Behaviour Foundation
The Challenging Behaviour website offers lots of helpful advice and guidance for parents, carers and professionals.
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation
Anxiety Young Minds
Useful section on the young minds website that walks you through how to support a child with anxiety
Young Minds
Foetal Alcohol Syndrome FASD Network UK
Useful website with lots of helpful advice, guidance, and resources.
FASD Network UK
Mental Health Support (adults) Qwell
Free, safe and anonymous mental wellbeing support for adults across the UK
Qwell
Tourette’s Welcome to T.I.C. (Tourettes-Syndrome, Inclusion in the Community) – Tic Yorkshire (tic-yorkshire.co.uk)
Welcome to T.I.C. (Tourettes-Syndrome, Inclusion in the Community) – Tic Yorkshire (tic-yorkshire.co.uk)
Tourettes Action works in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is the leading support and research charity for people with Tourette Syndrome and their families.
Tourettes Action (tourettes-action.org.uk)
Selective Mutism Selective Mutism Information & Research Association (SMIRA)
SMIRA became a UK Registered Charity in 1992, having been set up initially to support families with selectively mute children. This work has since been extended to provide information to health and education professionals involved in the upbringing of such children and young people.
You will find further Information and advice on their webpage.
Selective Mutism Information & Research Association (SMIRA)