The value of play to children's emotional wellbeing

by Rachel Maflin, Manager, Play Radnor

“Children need the freedom and the time to play;

play is not a luxury, play is a necessity.”

Kay Redfield Jamison

We know that allowing children time to play brings enormous benefits to children’s development. Play helps children to make sense of the world, through exploration, imagination and experience. It helps children to express themselves, regulate their emotions and cope with their feelings. Playing with others enables them to learn how their behaviour affects others and develop empathy.

Play is vital for a child’s emotional development in so many ways….

• Emotional resilience.
• Self-esteem.
• Self-confidence.
• Reduced anxiety.
• Self-worth.
• Understanding winning and losing.
• Exploring feelings.
• Self-expression.
• Empathy.
• Understanding the world they live in.
• Dealing with fear in a safe environment.
• Problem solving.

The benefits of play can be found in a wide range of play opportunities, such as:

• Playing outside e.g. swinging, climbing trees, running, jumping.
• Pretend play e.g. dressing up or den building.
• Adventurous play e.g. climbing, balancing, rope swinging.
• Group activities - playing with other people helps children express and control their emotions with others e.g. creating their own play ideas.

Activities don’t need to be expensive, the simplest stuff is often the best. We have a low cost / no cost approach using wherever possible loose parts – a variety of objects both natural and man made which can be used in a variety of ways. Loose parts play uses a range of resources that can be found both in nature and around the house, such as ….

• Cardboard boxes, paper, shredded paper.
• Materials – old sheets, duvet covers, shower curtain, wool, ribbons, old clothes for dressing up, bandages for role play.
• Buckets, tubs, tubes, pipes, containers of all shapes and sizes, funnels, plastic bottles, guttering.
• Kitchen equipment – mashers, whisks, pots, pans, sieves – mud kitchens.
• Sand, water, mud.
• Old phones, computer keyboards for role play.
• Crates, tarps, rope / string.
• Great outdoors for sticks, leaves, seeds, moss, shells, stones, pine cones, conkers, flowers, herbs e.g. potion making.
• Chalk, pens, pencils, etc.

‘When children interact with loose parts, they enter a world of “what if” that promotes the type of thinking that leads to problem solving and theoretical reasoning. Loose parts enhance children’s ability to think imaginatively and see solutions, and they bring a sense of adventure and excitement to children’s play.’    (Daly and Beloglovsky, 2015)

Loose parts create richer environments for children to play. As they are flexible, they can be used in a variety of ways, providing limitless opportunities. These play experiences promote imagination and curiosity, problem solving and independence, with children being able to choose their own direction of play.

With Christmas just around the corner, make a little space for play. Like your grandma used to say, they’ll leave the present and play with the cardboard box. It’s often the cardboard box that has the greatest amount of play value.

Play Radnor/Chwarae Maesyfed is a rural children’s charity that provides play, leisure and recreational opportunities for children and young people in Powys. We run a number of projects for children, young people and families both at our dedicated centre in Llandrindod Wells and through our outreach work. These include:

Play Rangers project: Delivering open access outreach play sessions on green spaces within local communities during school holidays.

Thumbs UP! Club: A project for families who have a child with a disability or additional need and their siblings. We run weekly sessions for children aged 5-11 and 12+.

Mud and Sticks: A Children in Need funded outdoor parent and toddler group (0-5) that meets in the woods for regular play sessions. Our aim is to inspire greater confidence in getting outdoors more as a family and develop strong relationships.

Toy Library: a low cost service enabling families to borrow toys and resources that encourage children's educational and social development. These include a wide range of physical, imaginative and multisensory resources.

Wildcraft: A twice weekly group for children aged 5-7 and 8-11 that offers opportunities for a variety of outdoor play. This could include campfire cooking, nature crafts, simple wood working, den making etc. We also run a monthly weekend session for parents and children to attend which offers low cost / no cost ideas for outdoor play.

Cooking Club: Sessions delivered in our community kitchen for a range of ages. Learning important life skills, cooking healthy and tasty food.

Stay and Play / Fun Fridays: Two hour play sessions for children aged 0-5 yrs and their parent/carer to have fun, play and socialise with others. Facilitated by volunteers.

Messy Play – Occasional sessions for parents and children aged 0-5 during school holidays and term time.

The NEST / NYTH Framework – supporting babies, children, young people & families

by Sharon Titley

Children’s Commissioning & Transformation Team

Powys County Council

NEST is a planning tool for Regional Partnership Boards across Wales, to support the development of a whole system approach to mental health and wellbeing support services who work with babies, children, young people, and families. The NEST Framework was created in collaboration with children, young people and families, alongside other professionals throughout Wales, ensuring that their voices are at the heart of what we do, and inform us how best to support them.

This video introduces the NEST framework:

Children, young people, and families that worked together to create the Framework adopted the term NEST. This is based on the notion that a NEST has a caring quality and contains many different levels. They liked the notion that all support services adhered to this theme, making sure that they all felt nurturing, empowering, safe, and trustworthy.

Some of the main aims of NEST are to:

• Broaden the conversation around mental health and move away from thinking that only specialist services can provide help.
• Provide access to expertise and advice more quickly and easily.
• Make sure that trusted adults closest to the child understand what they can do to help and give them the skills and confidence to do so.
• A ‘No Wrong Door’ approach to those who might need extra support.
• Giving babies, children, young people, and families the right help, at the right time, in the right way.

This is the NEST framework; the acronym is around the outside of the circle and then the stakeholders in the second circle. The white segments of the circle give us the 6 core principles of NEST. The inner circle contains the underpinning values of NEST which show the expectation of services and their strategic context being psychologically informed, adopting a children’s right based approach in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, respecting equality, and inclusion, being values led and being led by a child’s development rather than their age or predetermined stage.

Powys Regional Partnership Board recognises and welcomes the introduction of the NYTH NEST Framework:

“It emphasises that every relationship and every service need to work together to prioritise what is needed most if we are to build the foundations for positive mental health and wellbeing. These qualities are even more important for those who are struggling most, which is why it is about prevention AND intervention. The NEST Framework helps us keep an overview on how everything and everyone works together to achieve the best outcome.”

The RPB's Start Well Partnership is responsible for taking forward the Regional Partnership Board’s work to strengthen and transform services for children and young people in Powys as set out in Powys’ Health and Care Strategy and will therefore be leading on the implementation of NEST in Powys. Partners of the Start Well Board have developed a multi-agency model to respond to and support the emotional health and wellbeing needs of children and young people in Powys.

The Powys model recognises the importance of the community where a child lives, the schools they attend, as well as the important relationships in a child’s life which can be strengthened to support children and young people to prevent their needs from escalating into specialised mental health and statutory services. It also focusses on early intervention and prevention, a whole systems approach, which avoids duplication and allows for integrated access to service.

This model acknowledges that children and young people are more likely to communicate with adults that they know and trust. The need to focus on the adoption and embedding of early help offers has never been more important. It aims to bring about the kind of transformational change that children, young people, and their families tell us they want.

The ambition for every relationship and every environment to feel:

• Safe, nurturing base.
• Enabled to fly the nest.
• Return to the nest if need to.
• Unique to the individual.
• Builds on natural resources.
• Multi-layered.
• Same basic need for every child – but some need additional layers.
• Every interaction is an intervention.
• It is the little things that make the biggest difference.
• Culture shift away from ‘What is wrong with a child?’ towards asking ‘What is a child’s NEST like?’
  
  

How NEST is being implemented nationally

• Community of Practice.
• National Training Programme.
• A Self-Assessment and Implementation Tool.
• Aligning cross policy work.
• Regional Partnership Board Leads' meetings.
• Built into Regional Integration Fund.

How NEST is being implemented in Powys

Start Well Partnership met in October 2022 to develop a Powys Implementation Plan, which includes some of the following actions -

• Coordinating an initial NEST self-assessment across services working with babies, children, young people, and families.
• Supporting a culture change through developing a suite of training opportunities, as well as offering accessible training on values that enhance the framework e.g. Dr Treisman training.
• Defining areas of development e.g. improving coproduction and community engagement.
• A NEST Steering Group has been established to develop a collaborative approach to embedding the NEST Framework in Powys, bringing stakeholders together to develop a shared understanding of the sustainable long-term change that is required.

If you would like to learn more about the NEST Framework in Powys, or would like to discuss any training requirements, then please contact Sharon Titley – sharon.titley@powys.gov.uk

You can read about case studies, including the Development of the Team Around the Cluster Model in Powys, in the recent Welsh Government publication: 

“NYTH / NEST in action - Good Practice Examples of the implementation 

of the NYTH / NEST framework 2023.”

Black and white photographs by Myléne from Pixabay.

Supporting families in Powys – Home-Start Cymru

   

Earlier this year Vicky Critchley started work as Home-Start Cymru’s new Family Support Co-ordinator for South Powys. Her colleague Michelle Lawrence-Panter has covered North Powys for the past 18 months.

Home-Start Cymru is a voluntary organisation committed to supporting families with at least one child age 12 years of age or under where parents could be struggling with poor mental health, disability, loneliness & isolation, financial worries, and / or low self esteem.

I chatted to Vicky and Michelle this week to find out more about their roles in Powys.

Tell us about your roles at Home-Start Cymru

We are family coordinators who support a wide range of incredible volunteers here within Powys.

Our role starts when we receive a referral. Referrals come from all sorts of agencies – including health visitors, GPs and parents who can self-refer. We then take plenty of time to get to know the family and find out their strengths and particular needs at this time.

Taking into account location and age of children we carefully match a family with a volunteer and then support them as they get to know each other. Our trained volunteers give compassionate and confidential support, tailored to each family. With the support of our family coordinators they can help families through some of their toughest times. Being a parent has never been easy. It can be lonely, frustrating, heart breaking and overwhelming. Our volunteers pride themselves in being able to contact a family on a weekly basis and be there to offer ideas, a listening ear and to support the family with individual, one-to-one home-visiting.

We can also signpost the family to other support services, including networks in their areas such as playgroups or toddler sessions. We hold regular review sessions with the family to ensure they are receiving support that is just right for them.

In addition, we help recruit and train new volunteers as well as let others across our county know about our services so that we continue to reach out to as many families as possible. We are really fortunate to have links to local charities and grant providers – and are frequently able to make deliveries of resources ranging from Christmas gifts, to well-being goodies, clothes and baby equipment.

What brought you to these roles?

Vicky was a primary school teacher for twenty years. She loved her job immensely but after two decades in the classroom, wanted a change and to be able to support families in an area that she had moved to and been so warmly welcomed to. Whilst sofa surfing the internet one December evening, she saw an advert for Home-Start Cymru, rang the Regional Manager and seemed to be hooked overnight by the ethos and values of the charity.

Michelle previously had her own dance school and then trained in social care. She spent many years working with teenagers and helping them achieve in school, which she really enjoyed. This led her onto working in a children’s centre. After moving to Wales and working for a corporate company Michelle wanted to return to the vocation she loved. Fortunately, Home-Start were offering an opportunity for a Family Coordinator and this is exactly what she wanted to do. 21 months later Michelle loves working in the community and meeting amazing people every day.

Why was Home-Start Cymru set up? 

Home-Start Cymru is affiliated to Home-Start UK which started in 1973. We were founded by Margaret Harrison who believed that supporting a family was best done in their home where it can be shaped to their needs. She realised that if parents get support and friendship from another parent, they will be better equipped to learn to cope with the many difficulties life can bring and will be able to give their children the best possible start to their own lives.

While this idea remains at the heart of our work, we have created new ways of helping parents and their children to meet the changing needs of families.

This idea that started in Leicester, spread across the UK and is now a movement around the world. There are now 22 countries on five continents that have Home-Starts providing support for families.

What geographical area do you cover and where are you based?

Home-Start Cymru covers many regions across Wales. Here in Powys we cover the whole county from as far north as beyond Welshpool to right down south in Ystradgynlais. Michelle and I are home based at this time (due to Covid restrictions) but can be easily reached via our admin email address and our mobiles.

Why do some families require extra support around parenting?

Being a parent has never been easy. It can be lonely, frustrating, heart breaking and overwhelming. Life-changing events can happen to anyone and all parents struggle at one time or another. That is why Home-Start Cymru is ready to support families through their toughest of times.

Our mission statement includes the simple but so important statement…"Because childhood can’t wait.” The earliest years of a child’s life make the biggest impact. Home-Start Cymru understand that in these difficult times, families require a little extra support from time to time. So, we try to give that – in a non-judgemental way - so that we can make sure those earliest years of a child’s life really count so that no child’s future is limited.

How can a parent’s poor mental health impact on the family as a whole?

We mustn’t underestimate the impact that a parent’s poor mental health can have on the whole family. It can come in so many forms - your family may be trying to cope with the impact of mental ill-health or post-natal depression. You may be struggling to care for your young children while you are trying to get better.

A Home-Start volunteer who understands may be able to help along with specialist support groups such as Mind. If you are a father struggling to cope while your wife, or partner, goes through the dark days of postnatal illness, you may be able to find one of our dads' support groups.

We supported Kelly as she struggled with postnatal depression. "I couldn't walk out of the door. I was so low I thought my children would be taken away. I was worried I wasn't good enough. My Home-Start volunteer was the first person to take me out. Before, I didn't want to look at tomorrow, now I can't wait."

Who is eligible for support? And can families self-refer and if so how?

Any family is eligible for support, so long as they have at least one child age 12 years or under. We are not able to support a family which has a social worker assigned to them (due to our funders’ referral criteria). Other than this, we can support any family. Self-referral is really easy and we regularly accept these. Email our central office adminpowys@homestartcymru.org.uk and Michelle or Vicky will be in touch.

If families did not receive the support you offer what might happen to them?

When we face moments of hardship or crisis, it can be easy to become overwhelmed, scared, disheartened, lonely and really not know which way to turn for the best. We pride ourselves in being there before the hardship and crisis become too much for the family and prevent tough times becoming even tougher. Working alongside a family hopefully prevents them from suffering any further and instead allows them to grow, learn new skills, gain confidence and know that there is someone out there who can offer genuine, compassionate and non-judgmental care.

Tell us more about the volunteers’ role

Volunteers are the lifeline of our support. By sharing their knowledge and experience they can transform the lives of young children and their parents in their community. They meet the family weekly, offering support that’s geared towards them and their current challenges. This helps families build on their strengths and increase their confidence.

In return for their time, we provide all the training, guidance and support the volunteers need to be effective and make a real difference. Volunteers, meanwhile, have the opportunity to meet new friends, enhance their wellbeing and develop transferrable skills to take into the workplace.

How has Covid-19 impacted on your work / projects?

We are really proud that throughout Covid-19 we have managed to keep in touch with our families and continue supporting them whilst also growing our incredible team of volunteers. Face-to-face, home visits had to stop in March 2020. Instead we, like most of the world, turned to virtual support – offering befriending, emotional support over the telephone, and via the world of virtual meetings. It isn’t the same, but in these strange times, it’s a good alternative. Who knew you can still do story times over zoom?!

Our coordinators and volunteers are now returning gradually to face-to-face support. At the time of talking to you, we are able to meet families outdoors – for a walk to a playground, or a play in a garden. We are really hopeful that as time progresses, we will be able to return to indoor support – but we know that in the meantime, we can continue to offer remote support as well. Keeping everyone Covid safe is our priority at all times.

Which other Powys organisations do you work closely with to support families with young children?

We work closely with all the health, education and third sector organisations across Powys. We attend network meetings – sharing best practice, letting other groups know of our service and gathering contacts and details of other services that we can signpost our families towards. We are always looking for different organisations to work with and support – for example supporting local fun days, presenting at particular organisation team meetings and contributing towards joint information sharing initiatives.

What is the most challenging part of your roles?

A particular challenge is that we can’t get to see everyone in person in these Covid times. We love to be with families in person and are probably big children at heart – never happier than to be playing alongside children and their parents. Another challenge is that our county is so large. Travelling from one family to another can take quite a bit of time – thank goodness for sat nav and the fact that it doesn’t snow too often to block the country lanes that we travel along from family to family.

Tell us about some of the most rewarding work you have done in your roles so far

By far it is when you hear about how families are growing – when we hear about moments where they are finding strength and being able to move forward themselves. It might be that moment when a young Mum is able to interact and play with her young son with more confidence, or the time when a young Dad has a lovely bedtime story and snuggles with their child. Seeing children and families grow in confidence, with less struggles, feeling better connected and smiling again is so rewarding. We are honestly so lucky and privileged to be able to share a little part of a family’s life – and this is such a great reward for us both.

When you’re not working how do you enjoy spending your time?

We both love to be outside – walking, cycling and spending times with our own families.

Vicky has teenage children, so lots of her time is spent with them, running them around as well as her beloved baking and cooking.

Michelle is busy renovating her new house – and loves gathering with her family, enjoying each other’s company as well as walking for miles with her dogs.

We are both like most families – enjoying time together and balancing busy family lives as well as work.

Many thanks to Vicky & Michelle for telling us all about their roles. To find out more about their work contact adminpowys@homestartcymru.org.uk and/or info@homestartcymru.org.uk or ring 07871 601 772, and/or 07712 270 559.

Mental health and children, young people & families

By guest author Lucy Taylor

Hello, my name is Lucy Taylor and I am the Children, Young People and Families Officer for Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations (PAVO). 

My role is to support the organisations across Powys that work with children, young people and their families. This involves acting as a conduit between the organisations, for example Action for Children which works with families, and the statutory partners, for example Powys County Council which, in some cases, commissions part of their work. I use a blog, Facebook and network meetings to keep the sector up to date and informed. 

Another part of my work is to support the Play Networks and to raise the awareness of play. We ask: are there enough opportunities, time and space for our children to play in Powys? It was working with organisations looking at what services are available, and what support is needed for children and young people, that the gap or thinning of services that support them when they are having low level mental health worries was noted, hence this blog post.

Listening to young people speaking at the Mental Health Today conference in Cardiff in May this year I was struck by their common sense approach to some of their issues. They knew that life was not always going to be plain sailing - that events or relationships could knock them back. They wanted to be self-reliant, not turn to medical interventions or for the medical community to medicalise their problems. They recognised that in helping and supporting friends through their low patch in life, they may put their own mental wellbeing and stability at risk. Their request – “A toolkit for life, not a bucket of sand to hide from it.”

Mental Health Today conference presentation

This is the issue and where some gaps in support appear. Everyone can experience a wobble in their wellbeing. But, with a few self-help tools, some supportive friends and community, the knowledge of where to go for help early on, we may all take a role in our and our community’s wellbeing, leaving the expertise of medical interventions to those whose condition requires it.

The Young Adult Peer Support Project (YAPS) which was run by Ponthafren Association as part of the One Powys Connecting Voices lottery-funded programme was really excellent. When it wound down recently as the funding came to an end none of the young people (age 16 – 25) involved with the project was happy to see it go. Peer support projects like these are extremely valuable, as the first port of call for a young person struggling with their emotional wellbeing is friends and family.

The Making Sense Report was produced in January 2016 as a response to the Together for Children and Young People programme. It had emerged that referrals to Children & Adolescent Mental Health Services across Wales had increased by over 100% between 2010 – 2014, and four organisations – Hafal, Mental Health Foundation, Bipolar UK and Diverse Cymru – joined together to find out why and consider what could be done to address the situation. Young people themselves, who had been in contact with CAMHS teams in Wales, reported on their health and wellbeing and called for “non-mental health professionals such as education staff, counselling services and youth groups to share responsibility for the emotional needs and development of young people”.

For children, young people and their families to have access to informal and non-medical support, we – the families and communities – need to be able to recognise when we, and our neighbours, need a bit of help. It is also crucial that we know how to source help in our particular locality. Information and connectivity is the key. The PAVO Community Connectors help people in Powys (aged 50+) and their families or carers, to access community-level services and activities, (tel: 01597 828 649) – and Powys People Direct “one number for children, adults and families for information and support services” (tel: 01597 827 666) can also help.

The third sector as a whole plays a huge role in providing services and opportunities for children and families in Powys. From the playgroups and play networks, guides, cadets and St John groups to sports clubs and arts organisations. Then there are the agencies offering more targeted support or drop ins. Think of Action for Children, Mid Powys and Brecon Mind or Ponthafren Association.

Powys Youth Service supports young people around their emotional wellbeing in youth clubs or at school. The service has recently noticed that where it used to work with pupils around exam stress, now stress is more general and anxiety about life and the future prevalent. Online counselling and advice is available via an organisation called Kooth (Xenzone) .

But what of families, education and skilling our young people for life? If “it takes a village to raise a child”, what part do we all play in ensuring the wellbeing of all the children? Can Google or YouTube really teach you everything? The ability to budget, know about nutrition, healthy eating and exercise, or how to cook from scratch? These are the life skills the young people want, alongside how to protect their mental wellbeing, perhaps using such techniques as yoga, meditation or mindfulness.

Would it surprise you to know that a walk in the park or taking time to walk and be around trees can also help? The Japanese call it “Tree Bathing” and have invested in public awareness of the benefits of being outdoors. 

PAVO staff are working with organisations from the mental health and children’s arenas, alongside green or outdoor providers, to look at how best we can work together and bolster our communities and families by making the most of the green resource we have on our doorstep. We will be meeting in the coming months to discuss the support we can all offer. For more information call 01597 822191 and speak to Lucy Taylor or Jane Cooke.

Why not take five minutes out from your busy day to walk in the fresh air, appreciate the sights and sounds of nature? Perhaps grab some friends and all walk together. Take the children to the park or share a picnic with other friends and families. It may not solve any problems but it can help soothe your mind and give you a place to start. Like eating elephants you can take life one bite at a time.

There is currently a Welsh Government consultation on: The Emotional and Mental Health of Children and Young People. If you, or someone you care for, has been in contact with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, then you can give feedback up until 29 September 2017.

The Children, Young People and Education Committee’s Inquiry will consider whether the ‘Together for Children and Young People Programme’ is on track to deliver the ‘step-change’ in CAMHS services that is needed. It will also consider how effective the programme has been in promoting the resilience of children and young people, including a focus on the role of education in preventing mental health problems. The Together for Children and Young People (T4CYP) programme is a multi-agency service improvement programme that is aiming to reshape, remodel and refocus the emotional and mental health services provided for children and young people in Wales.