Prevention

Quality Standards

The need for care and support is minimised and the escalation of need is prevented whilst ensuring that the best outcomes for people are achieved.
Resilience within communities is promoted and people are supported to fulfil their potential by actively supporting people who need care and/or support including carers to learn develop and participate in society.

Children’s Services

Strengthening Families Team

Our Strengthening Families Team comprises colleagues with a wide range of backgrounds in social work, mental health, childcare, substance misuse, education, counselling and psychotherapy, police and probation, and works across two areas:

Early Intervention: Working with families not routinely open to a Social Worker, but requiring more intervention than universal services can provide.
Edge of Care: Where families have been allocated a Social Worker and are at Child Protection level or above.

Both elements of the team have the same focus, which is to provide tailored interventions to families to reduce risks and ultimately keep families together. Regardless of where the referral has originated from, we work with families in a collaborative way, supporting them to identify their own goals to work towards and recognise what kind of support will help them find their own solutions to difficulties.

Our emphasis on building positive, trusting relationships with families increases engagement, and yields better progress and outcomes. At the start of the intervention, we measure the family’s situation and decide with them the best approach moving forward. This can take many forms, including building parenting skills, increasing mental health resilience, and support with substance misuse, managing emotions and tackling domestic abuse.

Early intervention and prevention

The team was set up in 2022, and we now have two years’ worth of comparable data which shows not only positive results, but also improvement from year one to year two. Between forty and fifty percent of referrals reach us from Conwy’s Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), with the remainder from internal teams and other sources. In year one we worked with 240 individuals from 70 families, rising to 279 individuals from 81 families in year two. The top presenting concerns in both years were challenging behaviour, parent mental health, family breakdown and child mental health.

In terms of outcomes, the table below shows that, over time, we are supporting more families, and their outcomes have improved. The number of families where engagement is an issue has decreased, which we are particularly pleased about, as this was a recognised improvement area. In fact, we have developments in place, which aim to reduce this further.

	Year 1	Year 2
Number of families	70	81
Number of individuals	240	279
Risks decreased	52%	61%
Situation stabilised	24%	17%
Risks increased	0%	2%
Did not engage/partial engagement	24%	20%
6 months post closure not allocated to a Social Worker	80%	87%

Edge of Care

Between April 2024 and mid-December 2024, we supported 339 individuals from 104 families where there was a real risk of children entering the care system. During that period, we concluded interventions with 63 families, and the outcomes they achieved are demonstrated in the pie chart below:

Outcomes of interventions with the Edge of Care team April to December 2024

Early Intervention Panel and Edge of Care Panel

The Strengthening Families Team coordinate and chair weekly multi-agency panels made up of professionals from agencies. Practitioners bring a case to the panel to access a reflective space amongst multi-agency professionals, each providing different input and thoughts on the case.

This shared formulation takes place using the Signs of Safety format, identifying strengths and risks, before exploring what additional support or interventions could be beneficial. We seek the voice of the family to ensure they are at the centre of the decision-making process.

Between April 2024 and September 2024, the panel discussed 38 cases, which resulted in referrals to other Local Authority teams and external support organisations. An anonymous survey, completed by practitioners who have brought cases to the panels, demonstrates the benefits of bringing professionals together in this way:

Different agencies can see cases from different perspectives, and can offer specialised advice.

A young person I worked with received support from a social worker and other services as a result of the meeting.

All the panel meetings I attended achieved a positive outcome in the sense that all agencies come together respectfully and enthusiastically to come up with an outcome – a problem shared is a problem halved.

Learner improved behaviour, attainment and attendance at school which impacted positively at home. This was from the work that was completed by early intervention.

There has always been a positive outcome, brilliant way of accessing support and advice.

Developing the team and our activities

We have recently welcomed new colleagues to support with:

Neurodivergence within families (either the parent or the child).
Pre-birth support for parents expecting a baby.
Therapeutic, emotional and practical support for parents who have had children removed into local authority care.

We run a group for teenage girls, which focuses on relationship-building, reducing risk-taking behaviours and encouraging engagement in positive. We would like to set up groups, around child sexual, criminal exploitation and substance misuse, supporting mothers to improve their community connections to combat loneliness and isolation, and a group to empower fathers in Conwy.

Feedback

We asked families to complete an anonymous online survey, to share their views on the intervention they have received from us, and they told us:

Lovely lady. I can’t thank her enough for all her support. Vicky is a credit to your team. I genuinely do not think I would have got through this process if it wasn’t for her. She’s listened to me. She’s given me good advice. She’s helped me see things that I haven’t thought about.

Georgia is very friendly, helpful and approachable at all times and always calls back if I leave a message.

Cara was great. It was so easy to communicate to her. She offered some valuable insights to the issues we were discussing.

Nelly was always incredibly forthcoming with support and advice for all of the family. In fact, his support has been invaluable and without him, we would have made no progress at all.

Families are placed at the centre of the intervention, and feel the benefit of this. Focusing on the survey results we received between April and September 2024, we asked families to tell us about improvements in key areas of their lives:

Where applicable, 94% said that their mental health had improved
100% said that issues around substance misuse had improved
83% reported an improved relationship with their partner
94% reported that their relationship with their child had improved as a result of the intervention
95% felt that communication had improved
92% of families felt safer
Quality of life improved for 93%
Routines and boundaries were improved for 100% of participants
100% felt more able to cope with life’s challenges
96% stated that they had reached some or all of their goals

Feedback not only boosts morale and highlights any areas for improvement, but also enriches data to support future funding, by demonstrating the ability of the team to make a significant difference in the field of early intervention.

One to one sessions at the point of closure can be even more powerful than survey feedback, as the following case study shows:

Working with SFT has helped me to get the kids to school every day and being happier now. I am looking forward to things and didn’t have any hope before. I am still not drinking alcohol. I had no goals and now I do, I am getting towards the goal of driving and have mock tests now on my lessons. I have passed my theory test and this has been a big personal goal. When the children go to school I want to get a job with old people in care. I have found myself again. I felt lost. My children are now not on the Child Protection Register. It helped talking to someone (SFT) to get things off my chest.

Life is calmer now. I am more excited about things. I love being a mum and I look forward to waking my children up in the morning now. When I was drinking I lost myself. I was just surviving before. I have found myself as a mum again after stopping drinking and doing the work with SFT and also better relationship with Social Care. Love life with your children. I still feel shame but I love being a mum again. I really lost myself before. Work hard for things.

When you want something, try harder. I was at make or break before SFT and Social Workers this time, we needed it and I know it’s not the children’s fault, I was wrecking their lives it’s not fair. All the little things with them, enjoy those. I want mums to hear this its hard being a mum and we become a mum lots of times. I love being a mum, I have found myself again as a mum.

Whilst quantitative data is useful, it often doesn’t tell the whole story. Hearing personal stories helps to explain why certain approaches haven’t quite worked, or why there hasn’t been a 100% success rate. We’ll also look to re-phrase some of the survey questions to yield more meaningful responses.

Developing our Connected Persons Team

The aim of the Connected Persons Team is to keep children in familiar caring environments. In last year’s report, we talked about our aims to roll out training, secure the benefits of an additional Connected Persons Worker and link up with Conwy’s Family Centres for earlier intervention and support for families.

We have unfortunately been unable to deliver the bespoke training that we had planned, mainly due to the changing dynamics around Public Law Outline and court proceedings, as well as staffing challenges. With a more stable team, we hope to be able to deliver training in the coming year.

We are working closely with childcare teams, supporting with viability assessments of families. There has been a significant increase of provisions for temporary approval of foster carers, which promotes children staying with family during court proceedings; these are known as Regulation 26 provisions.

The additional worker we have recruited has been able to support with supervising these provisions, with an assessor (Social Worker) also assigned to the case for oversight. We have seen a positive impact on our ability to help families understand this alternative care provision and appropriately supervise them as they undertake a new role within their family or friends’ circles, which can be difficult. Feedback from families has been positive, reporting that the second worker has been helpful in navigating their way into their new roles and routines for fostering.

The second Connected Persons Co-ordinator that we recruited has proven extremely beneficial, with more people benefiting from the active offer of support, more presence in the community and more complex cases being able to conclude on private orders.

We continue to find the timescales of court proceedings with assessments challenging. We have less time to complete comprehensive reports, which potentially risks resulting in future breakdowns. We are utilising the skills in the team to navigate our way around this issue and are holding assessment workshops to share skills and themes across our workloads.

Moving forward we will identify a suitable training plan to promote the Connected Persons team and the roles within it to ensure the message of family carers and connected persons reaches the wider public. This will promote assessments being identified and completed in care proceedings in good time and offering familial placements to children sooner. This will also encourage permanent and private orders being achieved as successful outcomes for children and reduce disruption to their lives.

New Enhanced Support Service for Children Looked After

Over the last reporting year, we have benefitted from an Enhanced Support Service (ESS) within the Children Looked After Service; a shared initiative between Conwy’s children’s services and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. It aims to enhance the input of mental health expertise to children who are looked after by the Council, increasing placement stability and ensuring that children are in the right placement for their developmental needs. This may involve stepping up to and stepping down from residential, therapeutic placements when appropriate, as well as providing and maintaining foster care placements.

The ESS for Children Looked After is available to Social Workers to support the needs of the children they work with and offers:

Consultations
Training and development
Contributions to assessments
Standalone assessments to inform placements, care and the type of therapeutic input that would be appropriate
Access to CAMHS and other health services
Supervision of social work colleagues’ casework
Provision of a psychological perspective to the network on request

Colleagues from the ESS work closely with other services from Health and Education to facilitate timely access to support. We have found that partnership links allow for rich and meaningful referrals into services, and together with support from the Principal Psychologist, ensures that Children Looked After have access to the right treatment as soon as possible.

Responses to an evaluation survey have demonstrated that Social Workers, Foster Carers and parents are satisfied with the service they received from the ESS (100% of respondents), and 49 out of 56 respondents stating that the support they received increased placement stability. Further analysis has established the strengths of the service, including its accessibility for an initial consultation and person-centred support for children, carers and staff. The project is seen to have vision as to how it can improve outcomes for Children Looked After, working closely with stakeholders, and trying to identify ways to increase staff confidence and skills.

It has provided a better insight into how we work directly with children and young people as well as being able to explore different strategies and level of support. It has strengthened our links with health professionals and allowed a more reflective space to explore areas of need and how we manage concerns we may have within a more therapeutic way.

Key Data

Of the number of visits for Children looked After that were completed during 2023/2024, 1145 (92.3%) were completed within statutory timescales. This is above the Welsh average of 73.4%*

*As published in the Social Care National Release, in March 2025, for 2023/2024 data.

As shown in the graph above, the total number of Active Offers of advocacy for children during 2023/2024 was 494. This was a decrease from the previous year of 566 in 2022-23.*
Conwy had the highest number of Active Offers of advocacy for children during the year again and accounted for 16.2% of the total number in Wales.*

*As published in the Social Care National Release, in March 2025, for 2023/2024 data.

Adult Services

Ensuring safe and timely hospital discharge for older people

We have worked with our Health partners to ensure the safe and timely discharge of older people from both acute and community hospital settings. The work is guided by Welsh Government initiatives to support hospital discharges, and Conwy’s performance is now available to view on the Stats Wales web pages.

The data from the December 2024 census of the two acute hospitals (Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Ysbyty Gwynedd), the five community hospitals and mental health units show that the number of clinically optimised Conwy patients whose discharges were delayed totalled 36, and of those:

No patients were awaiting a social work allocation nor a social work assessment
No patients were awaiting the start of a reablement care and support package
Two patients were awaiting the start of a domiciliary care package
Five patients were awaiting a residential placement (often people waiting to move out of county to be closer to family)
Seven patients were unable to return to their home as it was no longer suitable

At the December North Wales Ministerial Priority 1 meeting, data shared with the group showed that in the region:

All ambition targets were currently ‘green’ status
There was a significant decrease in total delays from October to November 2024, from 326 to 283
The number of days comprising delays also decreased from 11,104 to 9,522
We exceeded the target for minimising delays, and made good progress in reducing assessment delays by 13% and days delayed by 16%
There were improvements in total delays, days delayed, and assessment delays across different Local Authority areas

For total overall delays compared with the baseline September 2024 figure, Conwy achieved the greatest reduction (-12) in discharge delays across the North Wales region.

Welsh Government 50 Day Integrated Care Winter Challenge

Health Boards and Local Authorities worked together to use a ten-point action plan to support more people who have experienced long delays in hospital, to return home. The challenge aimed to ensure we work together to share and learn from best practice to improve our system performance and ensure we have the right support available to help people to stay well or recover at home, or in the community. All Health Boards and local authorities accepted the 50 Day Integrated Care Winter Challenge set by Ministers, which ran to the end of the year. The challenge specifically targets the people who have been waiting the longest to leave hospital.

Working with our Health colleagues, we were able to report that the longest length of hospital stay for an individual in Conwy had reduced from more than 100 days to 70+ days. We identified that people living in the rural Abergele area were more likely to experience delays in hospital, awaiting a package of care.

Conwy used 50 Day Challenge funding to offer an enhanced payment to a domiciliary care agency who have successfully recruited staff and are providing care and support to the rural villages of Bylchau, Llansannan and Llannefydd. This, in turn, has released capacity within our in-house reablement team.

Identifying and achieving improvements

The data showed that Conwy had reduced the number of people with the longest lengths of stay once clinically optimised. We have found the longest stays are the result of complex cases, where the outcome of the discharge destination is determined in a court of law.

The Local Health Board are looking to improve their relationship with both providers of residential and nursing care and domiciliary providers. They have recognised that to be able to discharge in a timely manner the providers need to trust the assessments received from the hospital. Currently care and nursing home managers visit the ward to undertake their own assessment, leading to delays in discharge. Care and nursing homes are reluctant to accept discharges on a Friday and over a weekend. Conwy will support the Health Board in trying to build this trusted relationship.

The progress we have made since last year

We can report that throughout 2024, seven people were delayed on census day for a reablement support package and that the figure for December 2024 was nil.

We continue to monitor the number of people who transfer from hospital directly to a care or nursing home instead of returning to their own home. We support the individual through robust social care assessment and participation in multi-disciplinary meetings while the individual is in hospital.

Use of technology in care

As part of our Progression Service, we have installed assistive technology at our assessment hub and provided demonstrations to colleagues, encouraging them to consider the potential benefits for the individuals they assess. Assistive technology allows us to promote preventative and cost-effective interventions that can have a positive impact on quality of life.

Our Occupational Therapy Assistant has been working with individuals referred to the service to promote their independence through progressive skill development and making use of assistive technology where possible. A particularly powerful case study is set out below.

Team members and colleagues in other teams have made use of the assessment hub, where an accessible and adapted property facilitates the completion of an Occupational Therapy assessment of an individual’s needs, and of the suitability of equipment before committing to purchasing. Our aim, if capacity allows, is to provide more demonstrations to practitioners, individuals and families in 2025.

Case Study

C is a 21-year-old male with microcephaly, a learning disability, developmental coordination disorder, and challenging behaviour. He lives at home with his mother and brother and attends Llandrillo College Tuesday to Friday.

We conducted an Occupational Therapy assessment to assess C’s ability to travel independently and cross roads safely. He demonstrated immediately that he was capable, but lacked confidence. He required constant feedback and reassurance and didn’t want to let anyone down.

We completed a risk assessment and an agreed care plan, which we would review at the six-week stage or whenever there was a change in circumstances. We adopted a small steps approach, progressing when C felt confident to move to the next step.

We used technology, such as a smartphone and apps, to overcome barriers, and agreed strategies to follow should something go wrong. The app provided step-by-step instructions during his journey, and live bus locations. This provided C with simple instructions and guidance that he needed to travel independently with confidence. The college and C’s family were able to see what he is capable of. Consistency was key to making progress.

After twelve sessions across four to five months C achieved his goal and is now able to catch two separate buses to college independently. His college teachers acknowledged his improvement and as he has proven that he can now utilise public transport, he has qualified for the Step up to Work course. C’s confidence has grown significantly and there has been a huge improvement in his relationship with his mother. C’s new goal is to secure employment and earn his own money.

Mental health support

In last year’s report we set ourselves the challenge of improving the Recovery College offer for people experiencing mental ill health; we were aware that our relationships with partner agencies were vital to ensure a complete, seamless and vibrant provision.

We are pleased to share with you that the Recovery College has been re-branded as Hadau Newid (meaning seeds of change in English) Creative Recovery as we focus on the provision of a range of activity sessions that address key issues in a person’s life.

Through art, play and activity, participants can find ways to improve their mental wellness. The aim is to offer people hope, choice and opportunity to recover their lives beyond the label of mental ill health to achieve a purposeful and meaningful day. There is now a monthly timetable in place with at least one activity offered Monday to Friday. These might be crafts and journaling, outdoor pursuits such as walking, e-biking and fishing, well-being sessions and growing at our allotment.

We have partnered with the Culture Team on an Arts Council funded project, and with Adults Learning Wales who provide weekly art sessions and have commissioned individual artists to offer a range of relevant groups. We benefit from a volunteer who delivers the fishing group and one of our participants has succeeded in becoming a peer-mentor.

The groups have become established and are receiving positive testimonials:

I had attempted suicide whilst in hospital and I wasn’t in a good place at all. Since I’ve attended Hadau Newid I have come so much further than I could have possibly imagined ever!
Peer Mentor

I have been met with positivity and support throughout. I really enjoy working with the groups and staff. The whole concept of daily structured and fully resourced activities ensures buy-in by participants and show remarkably high and consistent attendance.
Volunteer

I have met new people and made some new friends. I like talking to people at the group as they have similar problems to me. I hope to get fitter by doing the exercise, I still have days where I feel tired and anxious and sometimes don’t want to go out but when I’m there I feel good.
Participant

This is an evolving service, and we have identified that people need to settle in and trust in the delivery team before being able to think about a course. We need to strengthen the pathway approach so that participants can be referred at the right time and in high enough numbers to make the course beneficial and viable. We also need to group our network of partners, and balance provision of a range of sessions across the week with our capacity to deliver a meaningful and consistent programme.

Securing long-term funding to continue our expansion and improvement of Hadau Newid will ensure that the programme reaches more people and allows them to make positive changes in their lives.

Developing new well-being activities across the county

Our Community Wellbeing Team has had another busy year so far, supporting individuals in Conwy to connect with activities and groups in their local community, via referral. To ensure that we continue to shape services according to people’s needs, we receive regular feedback through a suite of surveys to capture feedback.

Anyone attending activities run by the team are asked to evaluate their experience and tell us what they’d like to participate in, that’s not currently available to them. We also engage with members of the public via events, walks, talks and awareness stands.

Between April and November 2024:

We received 251 feedback forms from people who had taken part in groups and activities
We received 39 responses from individuals who contacted the team for information, advice and assistance
We received 162 consultation forms, from people telling us what activities they’d like to take part in and how much they’d be willing to pay

The returns told us that:

Ninety-eight percent of people surveyed reported an improvement in their emotional health and well-being
Seventy-six percent of people reported feeling less isolated
One-hundred people reported having a good experience at our activities
Ninety-eight percent of people reported that they were satisfied with the information we provided them

A lovely activity and group of people.

Very therapeutic and friendly hosts.

I enjoyed this very much, nice to get out and meet people and be entertained.

A really good stroll, speaking with the others in attendance. Good advice and exchange of details.

We analyse the data we receive from surveys monthly and will explore any requests for new activities to develop, where there is sufficient demand to do so. We research current provision to ensure that there will be no duplication with other providers and consider the number of people requesting a particular activity, how much they’re willing to pay, and what days, times and locations are preferred, before determining whether it is feasible to explore further.

We will only develop activities that we feel have a good chance of becoming self-sustainable following initial support or input from the Community Wellbeing Team.

Following consultation and feedback, we have developed the activities listed below this year, all of which are now running self-sustainably:

Sing and Smile sessions in Rhos in Sea and Llanrwst
Walking Football in Rhos on Sea
Kinmel Bay Strollers walking club
Netball in Penmaenmawr
Dot art in Llandudno
Over 50s daytime disco in Colwyn Bay
Poetry reading in Conwy
Running group in Deganwy

We have also noted that people ask for activities that are already available to them in the area. As a team, therefore, we will continue to improve the way we engage with people regarding gaps in provision. Moving forward, we will ensure that we always use the feedback forms as part of that conversation, so that we can raise awareness of our timetable of activities and signpost individuals to existing provision before they request them.

Support available at Family Centres

Our Family Centres provide a safe, warm and welcoming space for families to get support, relax, and meet other families, as well as taking part in group activities, such as Sensory, Stay and Play, and the Cuppa and a Chat groups.

To the families that attend, the groups are invaluable, as they provide an opportunity to meet other parents and peers, time to play with their children, and a place to talk to staff, who can provide guidance and information.

The groups also offer a chance for children to build on their fine motor skills, improve their speech and language, and learn how to engage with others. It is an important part of their development.

Play is also a key part of children’s development, and we advocate and give opportunities for play in our sessions.

Informal Clubs

Our stats evidence that our clubs are very popular. During the past year, we have held:

41 baby clubs, with 275 attendees
44 Let’s Get Sensory sessions, with 588 attendees. This clubs gives a good opportunity for children on the neuro pathway to play and learn, and for the parents to get support. We are aware that this is a very difficult and unsettling time for families awaiting a diagnosis.
24 Thrive Youth Club sessions, with 88 attendees. This is a vital group for young people to get support, and a place for them to go to. We run this in partnership with the Youth Service.
181 Stay and Play sessions, with 2983 attendees
56 Cuppa and a Chat sessions, with 750 attendees

Feedback from group attendees demonstrates the value of group activities:

The groups are great for young ones to socialise and play.

My little girl loved messy play with her friends. All the staff were amazing with her.

Being around other children has helped my children’s confidence immensely.

My daughter started to play with other children, where she only wanted to play with me, I have motivations when leaving the house, and a desire to meet others.

My son loves singing and playing in the group.

I’m a grandma and it really helps me mingle with other parents and grandparents.

We have listened to feedback asking for more groups, and for us to:

Include singing and nursery rhymes in the activities
Ensure that groups are scheduled for different times across the county, with sessions during the morning, afternoon and evening for those that are in work during the day
Introduce basic Makaton into sessions, to ensure that the groups are inclusive for all attendees, including children who are non-verbal

We also have a member of the team who is learning British Sign Language (BSL), to enable us to reach more families.

The Youth Service are always looking at opportunities to collaborate more with us, as young people are telling us they need support and a place to go to.

We consult with the Youth Council on developing new projects; for example, a group of young people who attend the East Family Centre gained funding to make Christmas gifts for older people in the area.

Use of grant funding and Third Sector services

Our Social Care Grants team was established to consolidate the management of the different grants that are available to us, and ensure that we maximise grant income, value for money and compliance. We manage a large number of grants, including:

The Children and Communities Grant
The Regional Integration Fund (RIF)
Carers’ Respite Grant
Social Care Workforce Grant
Age Friendly Communities Grant
Homelessness Prevention Grant
Housing Support Grant (Social Care element)
Childcare and Early Years Capital Programme
Food Bank Funding, Food Poverty and sustainable Food Partnerships Grants
Warm Hubs Grant
Eliminating Profit from Children Looked After and Radical Reform Grants
Shared Prosperity Fund (Social Care funded projects)
Foster Wales Grant
DOLS Safeguarding Grant
National Approach to Advocacy Grant
Improvement Cymru Grant

In addition to supporting in-house staffing, we often use these grants to commission external services from specialist Third Sector providers. The team ensures that the commissioning of services is in line with national legislation and Council procedures, then monitoring each contract closely to ensure that we obtain value for money and quality outcomes are achieved.

Home-Start Cymru

Through the Children and Communities Grant mentioned above we provide funding to Home-Start Cymru to employ a Family Support Organiser (FSO). This role allows Home-Start to offer parenting support to families under Flying Start, with the objective of improving the health, social and environmental needs of the family. The FSO is instrumental in recruiting volunteers to deliver this support and will assist in training them to prepare for their role within the family. The volunteers are then monitored, supervised and supported by the FSO.

Domestic Abuse Safety Unit (DASU)

Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) services are an essential component of our early support and prevention offer for families. We commission the Domestic Abuse Safety Unit (DASU) to work with families who are at risk of, or who have experienced domestic abuse. They receive referrals from our Family Centre staff and provide drop-in sessions at the centres to allow a safe space for individuals to get information and support. DASU worked with 231 new clients in 2023-2024 which demonstrates the importance of this work.

TAPE

We use our grants to support an animation club run by TAPE (a charity based in Old Colwyn). The animation club is an after-school arts and media youth club for young people with a disability aged eight to eighteen years. It encourages attendees to join in and work together, increasing personal resilience, social skills, speech and language skills and family relationships.

Lucy Faithfull

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation provides parents with education and awareness-raising seminars regarding child sexual abuse prevention, targeted specifically towards the needs of parents of children with disabilities. Feedback has been excellent, with parents stating they had no concept of some of the issues presented prior to attending sessions.

Relate Cymru

The RELATE contract ensures free provision of adult relationship and family counselling for families in Conwy who are in receipt of benefits or not in employment. Expert counsellors will help people to explore their own relationships, individually, as a couple, or as a family. Families are referred into the service from our Family Centres or other professionals within the local authority.

Carers Trust

We commission the Carers Trust to support children and young people with disabilities and their families by offering activities and groups, both to the family as a whole, and in separate environments, to meet the individual needs of family members.

Reviewing our grant programmes

Following a full internal audit, the Grants team was awarded high assurance. Our grant programmes are reviewed regularly, which ensures that they continue to deliver value for money and are on budget. We have meetings with our commissioned third-party organisations to review their delivery, to ensure that they are meeting their outcomes.

The main challenge with grant funding is around long-term sustainability of services. Often funding is awarded for a twelve-month period, with short lead-in times to prepare the service being delivered. We have however commissioned some services on a three-year contract, if the grant funding allows; this has helped to give some stability.