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Hamelin
House
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Hamelin
House in Billericay, Essex, was the first care
service provided by the Trust and opened its doors
in May 1983. It provides a residential short break
(respite care) service for children between 3
and 16 years of age. All the children have learning
disabilities and may also have additional support
needs because of any physical or sensory impairments
they may have or behavioural problems they exhibit. |
Hamelin
House is an 8-bedded registered residential care
home. Children who come to stay mainly live in
Essex, but some do come from further afield, particularly
from London boroughs. This service has no specific
boundary or catchment area. The House sees approximately
60 different children each month and provides
a welcome break for parents/carers from the ‘day
to day’ demands and pressures of caring. |
It
also provides an exciting and enjoyable stay
for the children, enabling them to develop skills
towards independence and spend social time with
their peers.
Children's stays can be anything from as little
as one hour up to two weeks, depending on parental
choice and availability of dates. Most bookings
are arranged in advance for the whole year,
although dates may be changed if necessary.
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Whilst
staying at Hamelin House most children are still
able to attend their usual school, which enables
them to have some continuity whilst away from
home. They are encouraged to bring family photos
and other personal belongings with them to provide
the comfort of having familiar things around them.
Children are able to keep in touch with their
families by telephone during their stay and receive
visits from relatives.
Hamelin
House has a large secluded garden, which was refurbished
in 2005 to provide wheelchair accessible play
equipment. It also has an activity den that has
heating and lighting, which is suitable for extra
messy play. Indoors there is a soft play area
in the main lounge, a 'quiet' lounge with TV and
video, and a sensory room. |
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During
evenings, weekends and holidays, outings are arranged
using the two wheelchair-accessible vehicles to
visit local leisure and community facilities such
as local parks, adventure playgrounds, 10-pin
bowling and the seaside. |
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The
staff team at Hamelin House are appropriately
experienced and trained to meet the diverse needs
of all the children who come to stay. Each child
has a key worker allocated to them who is a point
of contact for the child and others. The key worker
has particular responsibility for co-ordinating
all aspects of support to the child including
developing an individual care plan, attending
relevant meetings and reporting details of progress
of stays to parents and others involved in the
child's well-being.
There
is a great demand to stay at Hamelin House, particularly
during school holidays and weekends. To help meet
the extra needs of children and parents during
these times, in 1998 a play scheme was introduced
adjacent to Hamelin House. The play scheme provides
a valuable daytime resource for up to 4 children
at any one time. All the facilities of Hamelin
House are available to children coming to the
play scheme and, as with the short break service,
outings are arranged so that the children can
enjoy a variety of community facilities offering
play and learning opportunities.
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