Support and legal services for those in bad housing or the homeless

Free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week mental health text support in the UK

Specialist support service for Avon and Somerset who have experienced any form of sexual violence at any point in their lives adult or youth

Somerset Anxiety Support Network (Facebook Group), Somerset Carers Network (Mendip) – range of services for carers

Social enterprise supporting anyone needing extra help to live independent fulfilling lives

Effective early help relies upon families, communities and local agencies working together to:

• Identify children, young people and families who would benefit from early help.
• Undertake an assessment of the need for early help.
• Provide targeted early help services to address the assessed needs of a child, young person and their family which focuses on activity to improve the outcomes for them significantly.
• Early help should happen as soon as possible, including in the pre-birth period, when difficulties emerge in order to prevent problems from becoming entrenched or escalated.
• Early help is underpinned by universal services to identify the need for support at an early stage for those families who may need it.
• An effective early help offer is the responsibility of all partners.
• All families will have access to co-ordinated early help in accordance with need as soon as difficulties are identified. This support should be personalised, multi-agency, evidence-based and embedded within a whole-family approach. Children and young people in those families will be supported to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives, and to develop into responsible adult citizens.
• Early help can break the inter-generational cycle of risk and vulnerability in which some families become entrenched.

• Families will become more resilient and develop capabilities to prevent and resolve problems themselves.
• Local communities will become resilient through early help.

Guide Document – https://sscb.safeguardingsomerset.org.uk/download/2632/

The EHA can be found here: https://professionalchoices.org.uk/download/316/

The Early Help Assessment can be used to:

• Guide and support your intervention and support with children, young people and families you support.
• Request support from other agencies
• Consider a Team Around the Family approach.

Request involvement from children’s social care for safeguarding concerns.

The Early Help Advice Hub (EHA Hub) is part of Somerset’s Family Front Door that offers support to all practitioners who work with children, young people and families living in Somerset.

You will speak with a Customer Service Assistant or an Early Help Assessment Coordinator who can offer:

• Support and guidance in completing and submitting an Early Help Assessment via option 1.
• Advice on assessing levels of need for Early Help according to the Effective Support for Children and Families in Somerset Guidance via option 2. This option is for organisations safeguarding leads only.

Triage requests for involvement made to Somerset County Council’s Early Help Services (prevention services).

Skilled counselling service

• Free and confidential support around alcohol or other drugs.
• Open to Somerset residents (Somerset County Council) and anyone registered with a GP surgery in Somerset.
• Hubs in Taunton, Yeovil and Street and working across Somerset in areas including Bridgwater, Minehead and Frome.
• Person-centred–support to make the changes they want to make, whether looking to cut down or become abstinent.
• Family and Young People dedicated support for people effected by someone else’s use, or their own problematic use.
• Easy referral by a professional involved in someone’s care, or a self-referral:
• Adult Services
• Harm Reduction advice, information, awareness raising and resources. Including:
• Needle Exchanges in SDAS hubs and community pharmacies. Rollout of Low Dead Space equipment to reduce BBVs.
• BBV Testing in-person and postal DBST and Hep Vaccinations
• Naloxone supply and training for clients and professionals, to help reverse opioid overdoses. New peer Naloxone Champion outreach project
• Recovery Plans tailored to clients’ individual needs. 1-to-1 with a Recovery Worker -including specialist workers for Dual Diagnosis, Criminal Justice and Women.
• Prescribing treatment, for alcohol detoxification and opiate dependency. Supported access to Residential Rehab and Inpatient Detoxification if required.
• Psychosocial Interventions 1-to-1 or in group settings –delivered face-to-face, telephone, video or guided e-learning modules (dependent on pathway and risk)
• Relapse Prevention and Social Prescribing into health/social aftercare opportunities in the community. Supported access to Mutual Aid and SDAS Peer Mentoring

Outreach, refuge, support for violators to change, young person’s support, high risk advisors.

• Outreach Support in the community; Refuge (female) and 6 Safe-house (male and female) accommodation.
• Programmes of support to men and women, including for those who wish to break the cycle of abuse.
• Family Intervention Service.
• Young People’s Violence Advisor service for high-risk young victims (13-19)

Independent Domestic Violence Advisor service for high-risk adult victims.

Free NHS counselling service in all formats

Taunton: 01823 346135

Bridgwater: 01278 435853

Chard: 01460 238756

Wells: 01749-836705

Swish is commissioned by Somerset County Council and run by Somerset NHS.

Foundation Trust.  Swish is a level 3 service that has been operational since April 2016.

Which offers:

• Management of STI’s including complicated/recurrent STIs
• Contraception including complex issues
• Provision of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)
• Provision /follow up of post-exposure prophylaxis after sexual exposure (PrEP)
• Psychosexual counselling.
• Offer and provide vaccinations for Hep A, Hep B and HPV
• Condoms by post
• Online testing www.sh.uk
• Work closely with other agencies, BPAS, NT, Hinckley, PAUSE, SDAS, Probation, Homeless nurses, School nurses, YMCA, midwifery services, social services, care homes, 2BU, Eddystone Trust
• Targeted Outreach team for high-risk groups-promo events and pop-up clinics

Provide training, undertake audits and participation in research trials

Independent. They work on an emergency basis buying supplies at short notice for clients in need and working with the various agencies and the lords larder for ongoing deliveries

Mark Goodey

Charity for lesbian, gay, bi and trans people

Nicola Henderson (Team Leader) nicola.henderson@stonewater.org

Customer support

Child abuse helpline for concerned adults

Meet the needs and break the isolation experienced by suicide bereavement.

Statutory advocacy including generic or community advocacy. The service works with individuals who have difficulties being involved in decisions that affect their health, care or wellbeing or who need help to speak up for themselves and do not have any other family or friends to support them to do this. Disadvantaged or vulnerable adults aged 18 or more and in receipt of or seeking secondary services (e.g. MH, LD or adult) or if claiming or seeking to claim Disability Living Allowance or PIP , are aged over 60 or are an unpaid carer.