COLUMN: ‘The right support’ by Coun Patricia Bradwell, Deputy Leader of Lincolnshire County Council

One of the council’s top priorities is ensuring that children and young people across Lincolnshire are given the best possible start in life.
Coun Patricia Bradwell, deputy leader of Lincolnshire County Council. EMN-200505-134301001Coun Patricia Bradwell, deputy leader of Lincolnshire County Council. EMN-200505-134301001
Coun Patricia Bradwell, deputy leader of Lincolnshire County Council. EMN-200505-134301001

One of the council’s top priorities is ensuring that children and young people across Lincolnshire are given the best possible start in life.

Our children’s services team is one of the best in the country, and do a tremendous job helping vulnerable young people and their families, providing the right support at the right time.

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We also work closely with local schools and academies to provide children with a good quality education.

As you can imagine, the lockdown has presented significant challenges for us, but staff have pulled together and continued to get the job done, despite the difficulties we have faced.

Many of our teams continue to be active in their communities, supporting our most vulnerable families and carrying out vital contacts.

Of course, with the new rules around social distancing, this has meant working in different ways, and I’ve been very impressed by how well and how quickly staff have adapted to providing virtual support where face-to-face contact is no longer possible.

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In addition, many staff have volunteered to take on new roles, to ensure our most vital services continue to function, receiving additional training so they can work in our children’s homes, supported accommodation and respite care services.

Some of our dedicated health visitors are helping to staff the swabbing sites that have been set up within the county to test key workers for Covid-19.

We know for some young people, the lockdown is proving increasingly challenging, particularly those without access to their usual support networks. So our Future 4 Me team are offering additional help to those who need it, providing someone to listen and a change of scenery where possible.

We are also helping those whose parents and carers are being treated for Covid-19 – many of whom will not have required support from children’s services before. Meanwhile, most local schools are continuing to provide emergency child care for key workers, looking after over 1,000 children each day, enabling their parents to remain on the frontline.

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Schools are also offering resources for pupils to help them continue their learning at home, and there are many excellent national resources for parents to draw on as well, including those at www.thenational.academy and www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

For more information on council services visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/coronavirus

Councillor Patricia Bradwell is deputy leader of Lincolnshire County Council