‘Much-needed’ service for vulnerable young people off to good start

An intervention service for vulnerable young people in the Melksham area has provided over 70 hours of support since its launch in April this year.

The Melksham Targeted Intervention Service for 13 to 19-year olds, is funded by the Melksham Area Board and is run by the not-for-profit agency, Community Foster Care (CFC).

To date, CFC has offered 22 support sessions, working with six young people from Melksham Oak School – two of these cases have now been resolved – and work with an additional two young people will start this month.

Updating the area board on their work, a spokesperson for CFC said, “The targeted intervention service was set up in April for a small number of young people aged 13–19 years old who are in need of early support to prevent problems from escalating. The service is targeted at young people who are not currently accessing support from other services and are below the threshold for statutory interventions/not eligible to access support from other intervention services.

“CFC has linked in with Melksham Oak School and had two very positive meetings with the pastoral support team, where young people suitable for being referred were discussed ahead of referrals into the service being made. The number of young people discussed at the meeting exceeded capacity for the project and so discussions were had around those most in need of the targeted intervention support.

“The pastoral support team has been very supportive of the project and have been excited to have somewhere to refer young people that are on the edge of thresholds for other services, so that they get the support that they need to prevent issues from escalating.”

About the new intervention service, the safeguarding lead for Melksham Oak School said, “The project is very much needed for a number of our vulnerable students who otherwise wouldn’t have access to any support. As a professional, it’s great to have somewhere to signpost them, rather than struggling to know what to offer.”

As the new school begins, CFC plans to re-engage with Melksham Oak to discuss new referrals with a target of up to eight new referrals for the autumn term. They will also discuss group options with the school – potentially around self esteem and anger management.