We have a number of current projects which we are collaborating on with third and public sector partners.

Both local and national evidence suggests a significant rise in the number of children, young people and families who will need additional help as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However necessary, prolonged lockdowns have had an unprecedented impact on individuals and communities, with more people experiencing loneliness and poor mental health, poverty, drug use and even abuse.

These are all serious issues which require intervention, however no one organisation can meet these needs alone. To tackle this, Surrey County Council (SCC) and Surrey Youth Focus are bringing together colleagues from voluntary, community and faith sector (VCFS) and the statutory sector to share local insight into the presenting needs of young people, examples of exceptional work already happening, and exploring a shared response to the surge in demand for services.

In November 2020, 43 partners from the VCFS, SCC, Police, NHS and Education came together to explore how the we can better work together to support families, forming part of the council’s ‘Helping Families Early Strategy’.

Surrey Youth Focus initiated and co-led the creation of Surrey’s Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Alliance response to an NHS England request for the VCSE to be a “strategic partner in shaping, improving and delivering services and developing and delivering plans to tackle the wider determinants of health.” SYF is working as part of an Interim Leadership Group of eleven third sector leaders setting up the Surrey VCSE Alliance. We are developing the concept of Portfolio Leaders – ‘go to people’ – who know their areas of the VCSE and can play a linking role with the public sector.

We strongly believe that every young person should have the opportunity to achieve their potential, and evidence shows that children are far more likely to do this when supported by their family. Parents and carers know their children better than anyone, and in most cases, are best placed to know what their family needs.

We understand the importance of listening to families and working with them, in order to provide them with access to the information, advice and support they need in a timely way. We work closely with colleagues in social care, health, education, the police and the wider third sector to make this to happen.

The First 1000 Days is a health-led initiative that aims to help families get the best start in life. It focuses on the development and delivery of services, support and advice given to families from early pregnancy through to 2 years old. A partnership approach has been taken so that all agencies working with young families can input, and we sit on the steering group to ensure that the third sector is included in the development and delivery of this work. We also support the delivery of the workstream focusing on community support.

The Department of Education has announced that the holiday, activity and food (HAF) programme will run across the whole of England in 2021. In Surrey this programme is called Club4 and will cover the Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays.  On behalf of Surrey County Council, Active Surrey and a wide range of partners are arranging free holiday provision, including healthy food and enriching activities for eligible free school meal children. Surrey Youth Focus is proud to have supported more opportunities for third sector organisations to get involved with this fantastic work.

The team at Active Surrey and the Strategy Steering Group have launched Surrey’s Physical Activity Strategy – Movement for Change.
You can watch the recording of the launch here.

We are all part of #MovementforChange and hope that you will join in creating momentum behind the Strategy so Surrey’s residents realise the benefits of living a healthy, active lifestyle.