External Support

• Club Ausome Medway
  Support for children with additional needs, and their families. Every Monday at Strood Youth Centre, and every other Saturday at the Pentagon.

• CopperDaly
  Support for families who have children with autism.

• Dementia Support

• Family Action – SENDIAS
  Special educational needs and disability (SEND) information, advice and support. Support applying for an EHCP, ensuring school are putting appropriate support in place for children with EHCPs, managing mediation and tribunals, and other related support.

• Infinity Life Skills
  Supporting adults diagnosed with ASD, and adults diagnosed with mental health conditions, to gain new experiences and qualifications, to support with working.

• Kent Association for the Blind
  Supporting sight impaired people to live independent lives.

Phone: 01634 332 929

• Kent Autistic Trust
  A charity providing support for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other associated difficulties. Can provide general family advice, guidance and support.

Phone: 01634 405 168

• Kent Fire and Rescue Referral
  Home fire safety visit referral. Free for those who have children or are pregnant, those over 70 years old, living with dementia, living with a health condition, and those who smoke. This can also be completed for those affected by domestic abuse, to ensure the home is safe and secure.

Phone: 0800 923 7000

• MAGIC – Medway Autism Group and Information Centre
  MAGIC is an independent Medway-based charitable organisation, providing a range of activities and events to support families living with autism and other learning difficulties.

• Medway Local Offer
  Online hub that lets young people with special education needs and disabilities, and their parents/carers, know what services are out there for them, and how they can be accessed.

• Small Steps – Medway Family Action
  Offers support and advice to families who have a child/children pre- or post-diagnosis of autism and ADHD, aged 0-19. Small Steps will provide a variety of support strategies, tailored to the family’s needs, by offering one-to-one support in the home, from a project worker or volunteer befirender, targeted information workshops, parenting programmes, and drop-in sessions. Professional or self-referral.

• SnapDragons
  ADHD and autism pathways. Referred by the GP, but can be phoned for information and advice.

• Sunlight Dementia Support Café
  A weekly support service open to anyone who is living with dementia or is worried about memory loss, where they can access advice and guidance.

• ToaST Therapeutic Outreach and Support Team
  2 year pilot for individuals aged 2-25 displaying emotional and behavioural distress, not meeting the criteria for other support, such as MYPWS. Includes positive behaviour support, CBT, and other evidence-based interventions. Following referral, individuals will either meet threshold for consultation, navigations, or accepted for therapeutic support.

• Triple P ADHD
  Support for any parent with a child aged 5-11 who is being assessed for ADHD, or already has a diagnosis.

• Barnardo’s
  Support for young carers.

• Carers First – Young Carers
  Support for young carers, encouraging them to have time for themselves, to not feel lonely, to look after their own mental health and wellbeing.

• Carers UK
  Provides advice, information and support for carers. They also have an online community of carers, and are available to members 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

• Respite and Short Breaks
  Support for carers.

• Family Lives
  Parents Together free online parenting for families with children under the age of 5.

• Health Visitors
  Provide advice and guidance to parents with children below school age.

• Incredible Years
  Online training series.

• MCH Behaviour Management
  Information for parents around managing challenging behaviours and supporting their child/children.

• Positive Parenting Support
  Information for professionals and parents/carers around positive behaviour support.

• Tiny Happy People
  Advice and guidance for professionals and parents with children under the age of 5.

• ToaST Therapeutic Outreach and Support Team
  2 year pilot for individuals aged 2-25 displaying emotional and behavioural distress, not meeting the criteria for other support, such as MYPWS. Includes positive behaviour support, CBT, and other evidence-based interventions. Following referral, individuals will either meet threshold for consultation, navigations, or accepted for therapeutic support.

• Triple P
  Triple P ADHD: for any parent with a child aged 5-11 who is being assessed for ADHD, or already has a diagnosis.
  Triple P Primary: for any parent with a child aged 5-11 who has general behaviour concerns or conduct problems.
  Triple P Teens: for any parent with a child aged 12-17 who has concerns regarding their teenager’s behavioural conduct and pro-social skills.

• 2nd Chance Medway
  Advice around debt and budgeting, grants and food aid project.

• All Saint’s Community Project, Chatham
  Advice on how to manage money and debt, feeding a family on a budget, and hardship.

• Baby Basic
  Volunteer-led project supporting new mums and their families who are struggling to meet the financial and practical responsibility of looking after a new baby. They support with baby essentials and equipment to mums and their families. Referral completed by a professional.

• Citizens Advice Medway
  Based in Gillingham, and offers services such as money advice and food banks.

• Clarion Support
  Free debt advice and money support. Referrals accepted from professionals.

• Gillingham Street Angels
  Provide free food parcels, including fresh food 9am-1pm Mon-Fri and 9am-12pm Sat, at 43 Skinner Street, Gillingham. They have access to furniture, appliances, disability equipment and baby items. Some of which are free and some are for sale. They also have a free school uniform bank. They have a charity shop in Gillingham and Rochester. They can provide one-to-one support around form filling.

• Home Start
  Support for families with a baby or small child under 5 years old, with a range of things, including financial assessment, parenting and groups. Self-referral or referral from a professional.

• Medway Food  Bank
  Provides 3 days’ worth of emergency food (long shelf life). Referrals accepted by professionals and food needs to be collected from the centre.

• Money Advice Service (MAS)
  Support with speaking to lenders and banks, affordable payment plans, managing finances and looking at priority bills and debts.

• Money Matters
  Information on important bills, grants and allowances, help with childcare costs and managing money.

• Richard Watts Charity
  They support with things such as school clothes, shoes, furniture, household items and laptops for training and education. Referrals from professionals.

• Wonderfully Made
  Registered charity supporting families with school uniforms, from reception to year 13. Referrals from professionals.

• 2nd Chance Medway
  Housing advice for the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless.

• Citizens Advice Medway
  Based in Gillingham, and offers services such as housing advice and information.

• Clarion Support
  Support around homelessness. Referrals accepted from professionals.

• Homelessness Team

• Medway Housing
  Apply for social housing, pay council rent and apply for home repair. Council and private tenants, leaseholders and private landlords.

• Oasis One Stop Shop
  Runs every Tuesday at the Sunlight Centre, Richmond Road, Gillingham. Offers advice and information on housing.

• Porchlight
  Kent charity for homelessness and vulnerable people. Support around housing, feeling lonely and isolated, work/learning skills and mental health, linked to homelessness or the risk of.

• Temporary Accommodation / Rehousing Team
  Including change of circumstances and if you owe rent.

• West Kent Housing
  Provides support and advice around housing.

• Clarion Support
  Support around Universal Credit, benefit guidance and job searching. Referrals accepted from professionals.

• Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)
  DWP review for families under early help intervention or assessment. Review benefits to ensure accessing appropriate support.

• Infinity Life Skills
  Supporting adults diagnosed with ASD, and adults diagnosed with mental health conditions, to gain new experiences and qualifications, to support with working.

• MCH Apprenticeships
  Supporting young people to undertake a suitable apprenticeship within MCH, with a combination of on-the-job and off-the-job learning. Supporting them to gain practical skills, knowledge, and understanding, required for the workplace. When an apprentice is recruited, they will work as an employee for the service, in a trainee capacity.

• MCH Aspire
  Supporting those over 18 in Medway who are NEET, retired or in temporary insecure work or 0-hour contracts.

• Medway Talking Therapies
  Free, confidential talking therapies and employment advice.

• Men in Sheds
  Support sessions for men who live in Medway and are over the age of 25, and are not currently in employment, or are retired. They run creative sessions to support getting men out of the home, building on skills, and communicating with others, to support mental health and wellbeing. Those interested will need to apply for a membership and inform the team what they would like to get involved with.

• NACRO
  Supporting young people and adults with apprenticeships and education.

• Oasis One Stop Shop
  Runs every Tuesday at the Sunlight Centre, Richmond Road, Gillingham. Offers advice and information on benefits and how to make informed decisions about the future.

• Octopus Foundation
  Eligibility is anyone of working age, but is particularly aimed at those who may have been out of work for some time, due to physical/mental health problems. There is no expectation to immediately return to the workplace, but there is an overall goal to return to paid or voluntary employment, training, or another project, on completion of the programme.

• METRO Charity
  Information on sexual health, promoting health and wellbeing, and celebrating difference. Support young people with the GET IT scheme, where they can discuss and access free contraception and advice.

Phone: 02083 055 000

• Tipping the Balance
  Community-based programme supporting people to live a healthier lifestyle and manage their weight.

• Turning Point
  Support for sexual health. Support offered at 423 High Street, Chatham, ME4 4NU.

Phone for self-support: 0300 123 1560
Phone for professionals: 0300 123 1912

• 2nd Chance Medway
  Advice and support around domestic abuse.

• Child’s Vision
  Supporting children through domestic abuse.

• Clarion Support
  Support around domestic abuse. Referrals accepted from professionals. Self-referrals accepted by those impacted by domestic abuse or violence.

• Home Start
  Daniella Golding – Domestic Abuse Worker.

• Kent Fire and Rescue Referral
  Home fire safety visit referral. Free for those who have children or are pregnant, those over 70 years old, living with dementia, living with a health condition, and those who smoke. This can also be completed for those affected by domestic abuse, to ensure the home is safe and secure.

• Lucy Faithfull Foundation
  Child protection charity dedicated to preventing sexual harm. Work with the entire family affected by sexual abuse.

• Oasis and One Stop Shop
  Supports adults, children and young people, in East Kent, Medway and North Kent, who have been affected by domestic abuse. They offer refuge, safe accommodation, group programmes and counselling. They also offer a domestic abuse support and general advice service: One Stop Shop, every Tuesday at the Sunlight Centre, Richmond Road, Gillingham.

• Adfam
  Adfam is the national charity working to improve life for families affected by drugs and alcohol. It aims to empower family members and carers, support frontline workers and influence decision-makers to prevent alcohol and drugs from destroying families. Using compassion and evidence, the charity informs, supports and empowers both people affected by a loved one’s substance use, and the workers who support them.

• Al-Anon 

  Al-Anon family groups provide support to anyone whose life is, or has been, affected by someone else’s drinking, regardless of whether that person is still drinking or not. The organisation is a fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics, who share their experiences to solve their common problems. It has over 800 support groups in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

• Alcohol Change UK

• Barnardo’s
  Support for alcohol abuse.

• BigDeal
  Where young people can access information, advice and guidance about gambling.

• Bottled Up
  Bottled Up offers information and advice for family members living with someone who is alcohol dependent. The two founders of the organisation are a therapist and a psychologist who have direct experience of alcoholism.

• Clarion Support
  Support around drug and alcohol use. Referrals accepted from professionals.

• Drink Aware

• DrugFam
  DrugFam is a charity that provides support for families affected by gambling, alcohol or drug dependency. Through its support services, it aims to provide a lifeline of safe, caring and professional support to families, friends and carers, who are struggling to cope with a loved one’s addiction to drugs, gambling or alcohol.

• Gamcare
  Support for adults around gambling, and support for affected families and friends.

• Kent Fire and Rescue Referral
  Home fire safety visit referral. Free for those who have children or are pregnant, those over 70 years old, living with dementia, living with a health condition, and those who smoke. This can also be completed for those affected by domestic abuse, to ensure the home is safe and secure.

• National Association of Children of Alcoholics
  Providing information, advice and support for everyone affected by a parent’s drinking.

• NHS Better Health – Drink Less Advice

• OK Rehab
  OK Rehab specialises in addiction treatment. Treatment is available as an inpatient or outpatient. They work with clinics that facilitate treatment in your own home, who are able to provide professional intervention and home detoxification.

• Open Road
  Self-referral or professional referrals. Drug and alcohol services for young people in Medway, up to the age of 18, or 21 if they are looked-after or in care. They offer family support and provide a Medway Wellness Centre. They offer a digital Hidden Harm support programme for young people, ages 10-18, or 25 for care leavers, affected by a parent or carer’s substance misuse.

• Quit Smoking Services
  Stop smoking advice centre based in Chatham, which provides one-to-one support. You can also access one-to-one support in Strood Community Hall, and Gillingham Healthy Living Centre. Text messaging service also available.

• The Children’s Society
  The Children’s Society provides a hib of information, guidance and resources on parental drug and alcohol use, and the impact it has on children and families. They promote the voices of children and young people, as well as seeking to influence policy and practice.

• The Icarus Trust
  The Icarus Trust offers support for families of people with addiction, including alcohol dependence. It provides a ‘family and friends’ service, whereby trained volunteers offer personal support to individuals, couples and families. They work face-to-face, on the phone, online via webcam, WebChat, and email, with people of all backgrounds and sexualities, of all stages of life.

• Try Dry (App)
  The Try Dry app is packed full of brilliant tools and resources to help you take control or drinking, all year round.

• Turning Point
  Support to quit smoking, drinking and drugs. Offer needle exchange services. Support offered at 423 High Street, Chatham, ME4 4NU.

• We Are With You
  Need to talk? Get free, confidential support with alcohol and drugs, from a local service, or online.

• Barnardo’s
  Support for children with parents in prison and parents seeking asylum.

• Clarion Support
  Support for Syrian refugee families. Referrals accepted from professionals.

• Family Lives
  Family Lives is a charity with over three decades of experience helping parents to deal with the changes that are a constant part of family life. It aims to support the many people that play active roles in raising children, to achieve the best relationship possible with their children, as well as supporting parenting professionals.

• Kent Fire and Rescue Referral
  Home fire safety visit referral. Free for those who have children or are pregnant, those over 70 years old, living with dementia, living with a health condition, and those who smoke. This can also be completed for those affected by domestic abuse, to ensure the home is safe and secure.

• NSPCC Share Aware
  Information on internet safety for parents and professionals.

• Princess Project
  Supporting mums and their families to thrive, by providing a holistic package of physical, emotional, social and spiritual support.

• Relate
  Relate is the leading relationships charity and the Relate Federation is the largest provider of relationship support in England and Wales. They provide counselling, information, mediation and support to individuals, couples and families. They work face-to-face, on the phone, online via webcam, WebChat, and email, with people of all backgrounds and sexualities, of all stages of life.