reconstruct.co.uk

Welcome to the South Gloucestershire information page. Below you will find lots of helpful information on who we are as an organisation and the different services we provide to Children and Young People in South Gloucester.  

This resource will include information on what you can expect from us as an organisation, our processes, useful documents to promote the service to young people and carers as well as links to the referral forms. Add this page to your bookmarks by selecting 'Ctrl D'. 

If you have any question or queries please do get in touch by emailing for Independent visiting, visiting@reconstruct.co.uk or Advocacy advocacy@reconstruct.co.uk

We look forward to working with you!

Learn all about who we are, what we do and meet the team who will be supporting you...jump to section>

Find out more about our advocacy service and access our referral forms...jump to section>

Find out more about our IV service and access referral forms and guidance documents...jump to section>

Help us spread the word about our services for children and young people... jump to section>

Reconstruct has over 25 years’ experience of developing and delivering training, consultancy, quality assurance and compliance services to a range of organisations, as well as direct services to vulnerable young people. 

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable children and adults is at the centre of the work Reconstruct undertakes. Incoprorating the needs of our partners, and the children they support, is paramount. 

Together with the local authorities we partner with, we strive to secure the best possible outcomes in respect of access to services with the provision of professional and appropriate training; supportive consultancy and compassionate direct delivery of services.  We offer a full range of services designed to make positive change, develop strong ethical practice and promote better outcomes for the individuals being cared for.  But don't take our word for it - see what some of our children think about our services in the video above! 

Reconstruct has been working since 1990 to improve young people’s lives by providing Advocacy, Independent Visiting, Participation and Mentoring. We are passionate about improving children’s services and lives. Whether we’re dealing with an eight year old child or a director, we maintain the highest standards. We do this by employing people who have the intuition, experience and support to make good judgments. We value our people because they have a spark and because they have the ability to see a spark in others.

We value our independence enabling us to reach families who may not respond positively to statutory services. Good partnership with all agencies is key to children, young people and their families receiving services they need. 

We place the child at the centre of any work we do and promote their participation in planning, delivery and evaluation of these services. Each child in each situation requires a unique response that meets their needs, and we adapt accordingly.  This philosophy ensures those without power have a voice and are able to build resilience and confidence in themselves whilst receiving the service that is most likely to work for them. Children who are listened to become empowered and adults that listen to children are also empowered to make better, informed decisions. 

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An advocate is someone who provides support to children and young people in care, care leavers and children and young people who are subject to a Child Protection Conference. 

Advocacy means to speak up for someone and there are some groups of people who may need more help that others – in this case, vulnerable children and young people.  It’s about making sure that children have a say in decisions that affect their life. Advocacy is about making things change because children’s voices are heard and listened to. 

Empower children to speak up for themselves or for the advocate to speak up on their behalf

Make children aware of the decision making processes they are going through and to help them navigate the process

Ensure that  children receive independent information, advice and support and be able to signpost them to specialist support where necessary

Assist children in the swift resolution of complaints

The Children in Care Advocacy Service will provide support and advocacy for children in care aged 0-18 years and care leavers up to aged 25 who are placed both in and out of the authority area in the following placement types: 

Foster Care

Residential Care

Independent Living

Supported lodgings

Living with relatives

Placed with parents

The referrer completes the form on the referral link and this will be sent automatically to the coordinator for South Gloucestershire. If you would prefer to complete a hard copy of the referral form please download and send it to advocacy@reconstruct This applies to the following: 

Please indicate type of advocacy required on the referral form.  

ICPC/ RCPC  

CLA/ CiN / Care Leaver   

Homeless children  

Children with SEN  

Children in a Mental Health setting  

Care leavers

Step

Coordinator and / or assigned advocate will call you to discuss the following upon receipt of referral: 

To let you know the status of the referral and who the Advocate allocated will be. If the referral is missing any information, they will also ask for further clarification. Including if it their are any risks that the advocate should be aware of before meeting the child/young person.

Advocate will arrange with parent/carer to speak with the young person.  

If parents or young person do not want to engage then advocate would complete a non-starter form and advise the social worker.

If the young person is aged 16 plus the Advocate will ask the social worker if it is ok for them to contact the young person directly.

Advocate will meet with the young person face to face or virtually and gather their views and feelings.

Step

Please ensure invites to meetings are sent well in advance to allow for advocates to be allocated and for the V&F’s to be collated. Should an advocate not be available due to delays in Reading, Reconstruct will not be held responsible for not attending said meetings. However we will endeavour to support the child but this may not be possible and the child may have to be represented at the next meeting. 

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An Independent Visitor (IV) is an adult volunteer who is independent of Social Services. Their role is to establish a supportive and long term relationship with a young person built on trust. They will guide and listen to a young person, helping to build their self-esteem and develop new interests and skills over time. CLICK HERE to find out more about what Reconstruct offer.

Visit a child on a regular basis, usually once a month, to befriend them 

Provide Looked After Children with someone to talk to who is independent of the local authority 

Provide a consistent and reliable adult with a view to building a trusting and positive relationship with the child 

Provide a child with the opportunity to try new activities and spend time with them away from their placement. 

All Looked After Children will be able to access the Independent Visitor Service up to the age of 18

Children with disabilities and special educational needs

It is expected that the majority of children accessing this service will be over the age of 8 years old

Independent Visitors will not be available to care leavers. However, where a child has an existing relationship with an Independent Visitor, and they become a care leaver, this can continue if the young person deems it beneficial. Click to jump to the Moving On section which provides more detail on this.

We encourage all staff to promote the service and let carers and young people know that we are here to support. Our user friendly poster for Carers can be DOWNLOADED HERE, so feel free to circulate to your carers as well as print and pop up within the council buildings. 

Step

The referrer completes the form on the referral link and this will be sent automatically to the coordinator for South Gloucester

Or the referrer completes the hard copy of the referral form and sends to visiting@reconstruct.co.uk

We have also put together some useful guidance which will provide you with a more in depth understanding of the types of referrals to send through. For new recruits and for those who are not familiar with the IV service and what it entails we see the What is an IV guidance document for a detailed explanation of the role of an IV. 

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Reconstruct also deliver Return to Home interviews, Regulation 44 visits, bespoke consultancy and mentoring services. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss these further at advocacy.reading@reconstruct.co.uk or maria.mayes@reconstruct.co.uk

We really want to get the word out that we are providing the Advocacy, IV and Participation service to young people in Reading and encourage you and your teams to send these out to the young People you work with: