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Statement from Northorpe Hall

Photo of the Northorpe Hall

In January, we were saddened and disappointed to learn that our contract with Kirklees Council as part of the Thriving Kirklees Partnership, is not being renewed.

Under this contract, Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust (the Trust) provides emotional wellbeing support and therapeutic services for children, young people and families living in Kirklees.

Over several years, we have been the first port of call for thousands of children and young people in Kirklees experiencing difficulties or disadvantage due to their mental health and we have helped them get the support they need.

As notice has been served on the contract, affecting over 40 highly valued members of staff at Northorpe Hall, from 1st of April, we will no longer provide the following services:

  • Thriving Kirklees Single Point of Access (SPA)
  • Children’s Emotional Wellbeing Service (CHEWS)
  • Parent & Community Work as part of the Mental Health Support Team (MHST)

This week, we have entered a consultation period with staff at Northorpe Hall. After this, if no alternative solutions can be identified, regrettably highly valued, dedicated, and experienced staff members will leave the Trust.

Challenging times

This is truly a challenging time for the Trust and our immediate priority is to ensure that our staff are treated with the respect and consideration they deserve. In tandem, we will do our absolute best to continue helping the children, young people and families under our care as this contract is wound down/ transitioned to a new set of services from Kirklees Keep in Mind. To give credit to the staff members affected by this change, their first concern was for the families they support rather than themselves.

Beyond 1st of April 2024, the Trust will continue to provide support and services for children, young people, families, and the wider community. Although we are awaiting outcomes on funding decisions for some services from April onwards, we envisage the continuation of the following:

  • Children & Young People’s Domestic Abuse Counselling Service
  • Looked After Children Counselling Service
  • CREATE – which offers term time sessions for children and young people with learning difficulties aged from 8 to 13 and 14 to 18
  • Kirklees Youth Mentoring Service – offering mentoring support to children and young people who do not have an adult role model in their lives in addition to peer mentoring support.
  • Private therapeutic counselling for children, young people with mental health concerns as well as siblings, parents and carers who would benefit from support.
  • Youth Voice - co-production, social action and peer support group for children and young people.
  • Parent Community Voice – Parent led co-production and social action group focusing on improving support and information for parents who are struggling with their child’s mental health.
  • Training courses and workshops for community groups, schools and businesses.

Our beautiful Northorpe Barn is unaffected by this change, as is the supported accommodation for young adults with additional needs on Northorpe Lane. Born Explorers Forest School has recently moved to our grounds which is a strategic initiative focused on early years emotional wellbeing. We have a robust strategic plan, an active board of Trustees and several funding bids in the pipeline, some of which we hope will be decided in our favour.

What next?

We appreciate this information may generate concern for the service users we are currently working with and, want to reassure you that we are committed to supporting the children, young people and their families in the coming weeks as we transition the support to Kirklees Keep in Mind.

For any families who waiting for support from the CHEWs service, we will be making direct contact about the next steps shortly.

The dedicated work our Parent and Community Workers are completing with schools and the local community including the workshops will continue to the end of March 2024.

We continue to look for ways to respond to the needs of children, young people, and families across our community and beyond so if you have any thoughts or suggestions about what Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust can or should be doing, please email: Dipika.Kaushal@northorpehall.co.uk

Get support

If your child or anyone in your family is struggling with their mental health and you are able to pay for support, we provide private counselling. Sessions are £70, all our counsellors are registered members of BACP and you will be seen quickly. Appointments can be booked via www.trustwellbeing.org.uk which is part of Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust.

All surplus income generated will go towards charitable activity which will continue to provide benefit for children and young people.

Get involved

Within the next few months Northorpe Hall will lose significant income which supports much of its wider work. Fundraising and donations for the Trust have never been more important than right now. We want to be around for another 60 years helping families in need and we genuinely appreciate every single penny received.

If you have been helped by Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust in the past and appreciate the value of the support we have provided, or you are concerned about the plight of Northorpe Hall, please consider making a one-off or regular donation.

If you own or work for a local business and are concerned about the emotional wellbeing of your children or current and future workforce, please think about choosing us as a charity partner or make us your charity of the year.

You can find out more about fundraising and how to make donations on our website www.northorpehall.co.uk

Thank you for taking the time to read this communication. We understand that many of you, like us, will be shocked and saddened by this news. Our priority now is to ensure staff at Northorpe Hall are looked after and that disruption to the families in our care is minimised. We’ll share more information over coming weeks.

Kind Regards

Jonathon Blackburn on behalf of the board of Trustees

Dipika Kaushall, Chief Executive

Additional information

The following is Kirklees Council & Kirklees Health and Care Partnership's reference to the wider context to these changes and the decision to end the contract with Northorpe Hall.

Information about the changes to mental health services for children and young people in Kirklees

Mental health services for children and young people with are being reorganised in Kirklees to ensure they offer a more equitable and consistent service. A new model has been developed by the Kirklees Integrated Care Board under the name Kirklees Keep in Mind and service users will be notified how this will affect them in the near future. The Integrated Care Board and the Council are finalising the details of the new offer and aiming to minimise any disruption to those who use these services.

Formal statement from Kirklees Council & Kirklees Health and Care Partnership

"Northorpe Hall has been an important partner within the Thriving Kirklees Partnership and Kirklees Council would like to thank Northorpe Hall and their staff for the hard work and commitment towards supporting the wellbeing of children and young people in the district.

We appreciate the professionalism of those involved and know they have improved the lives of so many young lives during this period. We would also like to thank them for their support as we transition into the new Kirklees Keep in Mind service and helping us make this as seamless as possible for service users.

Northorpe Hall continues to be a valued voluntary sector partner and the Council will continue to support the trust in their future activities. We look forward to working together in the future."


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