Hillingdon Care and Support Directory

Exciting news! We have recently launched an incredible online Care and Support Directory. This new tool provides professionals and residents a digital single access point to thousands of services, organisations, and groups in Hillingdon with just one search! 

What's on offer?  

• For children, young people and families, there's information on health and wellbeing, learning, education and employment opportunities, early years and childcare support, and family hubs and children's centres 
• For children with SEND and their families, there's events and activities, education and training support and health and wellbeing advice 
• The section for adults features housing options, financial support, help at home and leisure activities.
   

Don't miss out! Explore the directory now at careandsupport.hillingdon. gov.uk 

If you have any questions on the Directory, please email: careandsupport@hillingdon.gov.uk

Artificial intelligence safety tips for parents 

Learn more about artificial intelligence (AI) content and tools, and discover ways to help your children stay safe. Click here.

Online Parenting Courses - Family Lives

Being a parent has never been easy. There are no manuals for it, and previous generations may not be able to provide the insight you're looking for. The family unit is more dispersed than ever, with some families existing hundreds of miles from what may be called a 'core unit'. The rapid pace of societal change in the UK rapidly outstrips the knowledge of the immediate past. The result is that many parents may find themselves lost in a maelstrom of contradictory advice. For adults, time has never been more compacted. Family Lives has produced a series of online parenting courses, to make this challenge a little easier. If interested please follow the link below: 

https://www.familylives.org. uk/how-we-can-help/online- parenting-courses

Family Lives offers a confidential and free* helpline service for families in England and Wales (previously known as Parentline). They can be contacted on 0808 800 2222 for emotional support, information, advice and guidance on any aspect of parenting and family life. Their website is also a rich source of useful support and advice.

(* Free from landlines and most mobiles) 

National crime agency

All schools in the UK have recently been sent information from the National Crime Agency, raising awareness of the recent rise in reporting of financially motivated sexual extortion (a type of online blackmail often known in the media as ‘sextortion’). Children and young people worldwide are being targeted.

This type of crime involves an adult offender (often from an organised crime group based overseas) threatening to release nude or semi- ude images and/or videos of a child or young person, unless they pay money, or meet another financial demand, such as purchasing a prepaid gift card. Victims of any age and gender can be targets, however a large proportion of cases have involved male victims aged 14-18.

A child or young person is never to blame if they have been a victim. Offenders will have tricked, groomed and/or manipulated them into sharing an image.

Find out more about online blackmail on CEOP Education’s parents and carers website.

It’s important to have frequent, open and non-judgemental conversations with your child about relationships, sex and being online to build trust and support them if something goes wrong. Financially motivated sexual extortion should be included in those conversations. Click here for some tips about how to approach these conversations with your child.

Knus

Knus is the UK's first free, confidential, peer support and coaching chat service. They provide free mental health support securely through a selection of popular online apps. They also offer a free CPD-accredited course, known as 'Overcoming Anxiety'. Within this course, users get the chance to explore ways to reduce anxiety and receive unique feedback from volunteer peer support coaches, providing coping strategies and goal-setting exercises. Click here. You can visit their website here to see how the service operates.

Parent Carer Support

A new parent/carer support project run by Stronger Families Key Working and Brilliant Parents. Click here.

KISS drop in sessions 

KISS is the sexual health and wellbeing service for young people aged 13-19 in Hillingdon Borough. We provide a confidential service for young people to discuss questions or concerns they have around relationships, online safety and sexual health, as well as providing free contraception. KISS holds drop-in sessions on Thursday afternoons, where young people can see a KISS advisor without the need for an appointment. 

Who are we? KISS is a confidential Sexual Health and Well-Being service that provides advice and information to young people aged 13-19 who go to school or live in London Borough of Hillingdon.

What do we offer? The KISS team can provide information and support on topics including: 

Healthy Relationships

• Understanding consent and boundaries
• Appropriate and inappropriate sexual  behaviours
• Signposting for further support

Sexual Health

• Information on where to access STI screenings
• Advice on preventing STIs

Contraception

• Information about different types of contraception available and where to access this
• Access to free condoms via the C-card scheme (*We provide this service to all under 25s)
• Advice on where to access emergency contraception. (*We do not provide emergency contraception)

Pregnancy Testing

• Access to free pregnancy testing
• Information and support around pregnancy choices

Sexuality and Identity

• Information on LGBT+ groups that are running
• Signposting to further support services

When: Day - Thursday

Time: 3.15pm-6.00pm

Where: Uxbridge Family Hub, Civic Centre, High Street UB8 1UW

How to contact us: Email: shwb@hillingdon.gov.uk  Call: 01895 277222

Wake up Wednesday

The #WakeUpWednesday campaign is viewed as one of the most trusted and reputable learning resources in the UK, providing expert advice on the latest platforms and online risks that parents and carers need to know about. Click here.

NSPCC Virtual Reality safety advice

With more parents more likely to buy their children VR headsets, we've developed a guide for parents to support families buying Virtual Reality (VR) headsets. Click here.

Online Safety for 11-18s (CEOP)

CEOP has created a new website for teenagers called 'The internet, relationships & you' and offers advice on socialising online, online safety, getting support and sexual content online. CEOP is a part of the National Crime Agency. Click here.

11-18s website toolkit - The internet, relationships and you

The new 11-18s website offers information and guidance which is appropriate and relevant to the experiences of young people aged 11-18. Click here.

The website offers advice articles and signposts clear ways young people can access help and support across 7 key categories:

1. Relationships
2. Socialising online
3. Nudes
4. Sex and sexual content online
5. Sexual abuse
6. Support
7. Online safety  

CEOP

Please click here for a range of information about keeping yourself or a child safe online and click here to make a report. 

• Online safety tips for children
• Thinkuknow provides advice from the National Crime Agency (NCA) on staying safe online
• Parent info is a collaboration between Parentzone and the NCA providing support and guidance for parents from leading experts and organisations.
• Childnet offers a toolkit to support parents and carers of children of any age to start discussions about their online life, to set boundaries around online behaviour and technology use, and to find out where to get more help and support.
• Internet matters provides age-specific online safety checklists, guides on how to set parental controls on a range of devices, and a host of practical tips to help children get the most out of their digital world.
• London Grid for Learning has support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online, including tips to keep primary aged children safe online.
• Net-aware has support for parents and carers from the NSPCC, including a guide to social networks, apps and games.
• UK Safer Internet Centre has tips, advice, guides and other resources to help keep children safe online, including parental controls offered by home internet providers and safety tools on social networks and other online services.

Reporting concerns

Harmful or upsetting content
Get support by:

• reporting harmful online content to the UK Safer Internet Centre
• getting government advice and trusted resources from Educate Against Hate on safeguarding from radicalisation, building resilience to extremism, and promoting shared values

Bullying or abuse online
You can:

• get advice on reporting online abuse from the National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection command
• get advice and support from Anti-Bullying Alliance for children who are being bullied

Other Information and Advice 

 

HOLLIE Guard APP

The "Hollie Guard App" is designed for youngsters to be able to switch on when they are walking home late or alone and then parents are able to track them.

If your young person feels threatened, lost or unsafe they can shake their phone, which will set off a high pitched alarm from the phone and also message anyone set up to receive alert's as a guardian.

This is not just suggested for pupils but for anyone who may find this app useful.

For further information please click here.

Stronger Families Flyer

Click here.

Support for LGBTQI+ Young People

Click here.

Supporting your child - Self-harm and Suicide

Click here.

Young Person's Guide to Keeping Children Safe

Click here.

Supporting children and young people’s mental health.  

Please click here for information and advice from NSPCC.

Bullying and cyberbullying

Bullying and cyberbullying can happen to any child. Please click here for advice from NSPCC to help keep children safe from bullying, wherever it happens.

Childline

Please click here for information and advice from Childline.

Report Remove

Report Remove is here to help young people under 18 in the UK to confidentially report sexual images and videos of themselves and remove them from the internet. Click here.

Hillingdon Resources Guide for organisations providing support to the victims and survivors of Domestic Abuse and other forms of violence and abuse. Click here.

Brilliant Parents
Brilliant Parents offers community based support for parents across Hillingdon. Parent Champions are volunteer parents who understand local, cultural needs and are trained to offer support and guidance. Click here.