Children and young people
More opportunities for them. More breathing space for you.
Practical and social support for young people aged 8 to 18 across Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Getting out, doing things, building confidence and independence — and a few hours in the week that belong to the rest of the family.
What this is
This is practical and social support. It is not personal care, and we are clear about that from the first conversation.
Our support workers help a young person get out, take part, build routines and gain independence. They do not help with washing, dressing, toileting or eating. That boundary is deliberate: physical help with those tasks is the activity the Care Quality Commission registers, at any age, and it is not what this service does.
If a young person needs personal care, we will say so plainly rather than stretch the service around it, and we will tell you what kind of provider to look for instead.
What support can look like
A few hours that change the week.
Getting out and doing things
Swimming, the cinema, a football session, the park, a club they have wanted to try. Someone who goes at their pace and knows what a difficult day looks like.
Confidence and independence
Travelling a familiar route, ordering at a counter, handling money, managing a routine without being managed. Small things, practised until they are theirs.
Time for the rest of the family
Regular, reliable hours so a parent can work, sleep, or give a sibling an afternoon of undivided attention — with you contactable throughout.
Getting ready for adult services
For older teenagers, support that looks ahead to what comes after school and what adult support will need to be.
How we work with parents
You stay in charge of it. We are not here to take over.
We meet the young person and whoever knows them best, agree what good support would actually look like, and write it down before anything starts — what the worker will do, what they will not do, who to ring, and what happens if a session is not working. The same small team comes each week. Not agency staff, not a different face each time.
What this service does not do
Being specific about the edges is how a service stays safe.
- No personal care. No help with washing, dressing, toileting or eating.
- No childcare for under-8s. This service is for young people aged 8 to 18.
- No overnight care and no accommodation. Support is during the day, in the community or from the family home.
- Nothing assumed. Transport, collecting from school, and support while a parent is out are agreed case by case and written into the plan, or they do not happen.
- Not a health service. Where needs are mainly clinical or require nursing, that is a different kind of provider and we will say so.
Before a young person starts
Working with under-18s carries requirements that adult work does not, and we meet them before a first visit rather than after.
- Enhanced DBS checks including the children’s barred list for every worker supporting a young person.
- Children’s safeguarding arrangements, separate from our adult ones, with a named person to raise a concern with.
- Insurance confirmed for work with under-18s.
- The activity boundaries above agreed in writing with you, individually, for your child.
Tell us about one thing you would love to make easier. That is usually a better starting point than trying to describe a service.
Care HorizonsHow it starts
Four steps, and you can stop at any of them.
You tell us what would help
A few sentences is plenty. What your child enjoys, what is hard, and what would make the week easier.
We reply within one working day
And we say honestly whether this is the right service for what you have described.
We meet
You, your child, and the person who would be supporting them. No commitment at this point.
A written plan, then a start date
Covering the support, the boundaries, the people, the cost and what happens if it is not working.
What would your child love to do more of?
Start there. Every arrangement is agreed individually after we have met, so the first conversation commits you to nothing.
0117 405 4320 [email protected] Enquiries are handled by our Service Manager and Deputy Manager, with Director Vierka Hiscock overseeing every case. We normally respond within one working day.