During the summer 2023, every Bring It On Brum provider in Erdington received a visit from Early Help in the hope of raising awareness amongst families of the support available in Birmingham. Early Help aims to support families with their concerns as soon as they arise, with the aim of finding solutions to the problems that families may face.
Key aspects of the positive relationship with Early Help include;
- Access to families whose children are home schooled
- Access to faith groups and communities who would usually not visit Early Help offices
- Access to SEND young people and families including invites to parents evening at Oscott Manor Secondary School to tell more people about Early Help services
- Informal recognition in the street having attended HAF sessions and family cooking festivals has made Early Help feel more approachable and accessible to communities
An example of this work this summer is Oscott Manor School, which delivered Bring It On Brum for the first time because of a referral through Early Help. This led to an onsite visit at the school to support parents attending Bring It On Brum followed by an invite back to the school to attend parents evening at the start of the new term.
“Over the summer, our close partnership working with Bring It On Brum allowed us to be accessible to families in a new and more personable way. We met with families using HAF providers all over Erdington, and were able to raise awareness about our support. We increased people’s knowledge and access to the Early Help offer and were able to signpost families to services in their area face-to-face, as well as some families calling us after sessions for more in depth conversations. Bring It On Brum also allowed us to create strong bonds with our HAF providers in Erdington, and offer them Early Help training as well as work more closely with them in the future our of school holidays.” Early Help Team