Outreach
Off the Record has an Outreach Team that aims to ensure our services can be reached by a wider range of young people. We realise that it is not always easy to get to one of our offices so we visit various locations where there are groups of young people, for example schools and youth clubs, to provide support and information about our services.
In-school Service
We go into secondary schools within B&NES to provide confidential advice services similar to the ones that we run from our offices. There will be an appointment system for this service that will be managed by the school but the details of the appointment will be private and confidential within Off the Record's confidentiality policy.
Students can make an appointment to see an Off the Record worker for a 20 minute one-to-one session. The appointment will be used to discuss anything that you may need information, advice or support with.
Workshops
We provide workshops for groups of children and young people covering a range of different topics, for example:
- Mental health awareness
- Listening skills
- Self esteem and confidence building
- Communication skills
- Friendship issues
Assemblies and Presentations
We deliver assemblies and presentations to schools and other groups to increase awareness of issues that concern young people and promote the services we offer.
The 'Super Me' Project
'Super Me' is a project created and run by Off the Record in partnership with B&NES Extended Schools Services.
The 'Super Me' Project is a series of six 2hr workshops for up to 12 children of Primary school age. The project focuses on building confidence, self-esteem and team working skills through the use of self-expression, art, drama and storytelling.
Over the six sessions children will be encouraged to think about the things that they like about themselves and what they would like to improve. They will be given the opportunity to imagine a 'Super Hero' based on themselves that demonstrates some of these qualities. They will then be supported in creating a story around their character, designing and making it from scrap materials, and using it to create scenes form their story.
In the final sessions they will work together on a group piece of Artwork depicting all of the characters.
How to contact us
Outreach Counselling Project
If you find attending a centre difficult for whatever reason then maybe our Outreach Counselling project is for you. The counselling is "short term" which means we can see you for anything up to twelve sessions.
We know that young people often value receiving a service in a setting that they are familiar with and this can be supportive. So if you are a young person who is using a local service you could mention to a worker that you might be interested in the service.
How to make a referral
- Telephone our Bath office (01225 312 481) and ask to go on the "outreach counselling waiting list," or;
- Ask a professional who you have contact with to refer you. They can call our Bath office and get a referral form sent out, which they can then return to us
- You will be placed on a waiting list and contacted to arrange an assessment meeting. During this meeting we discuss whether short-term counselling is right for you, how many sessions you would like and where the best place to see you might be
Confidentiality Policy
The Counselling Outreach Project uses the same confidentiality policy as our centre-based projects. This means the sessions will remain confidential between the young person and Off the Record. We do not send referrers information about the content of the sessions. The exception to this may be where there are concerns about a child's or young person's safety. We have a child concern policy that details our response to child protection issues and is available by contacting an Off the Record office.
How to contact us
You can also use our centre based counselling service.
Outreach Therapy
The Outreach Therapy service provides therapeutic intervention with children and young people with learning disabilities.
A child or young person may benefit from intervention in the following areas:
- Expression of thoughts, wishes and feelings
- Communication
- Self-esteem
- Dealing with bullying
- Assertiveness
- Social skills
- Or anything else specific to the child or young person
Children and young people may wish to use:
- Art
- Music
- Drama
- Sensory materials
- Talking
- Signs
- Symbols
Children and young people can access one-to-one sessions with the Outreach therapist and/or can attend workshops in groups.
The majority of Outreach Therapy takes place in schools, although referrals can be taken for children and young people outside of these schools.
Young people can self refer using the Outreach therapy young person's leaflet and referral form. There is also a form for professionals to refer young people for the service. These are available from Off the Record as below.