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How Wiltshire Council can work with families to improve futures for children and young people was the key topic of a partnership event in Wiltshire recently.

The Corn Exchange in Devizes was the setting for representatives from Wiltshire Council, Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Wiltshire Police and partners to explore ideas and create a long term strategy for the Families and Children’s Transformation (FACT) programme.

FACT is a multi-agency programme which builds on progress already made to ensure the services which safeguard and support children and young people work together in a coherent and structured way.

At the event, partners, parents and carers, groups and charities discussed the way to achieve this looking at a range of issues including:

– A ‘whole life’ service
– Supporting young people (11+ and SEND to 25)
– Getting the best start in life
– Integrated working
– Prevention and early intervention

Families attending the day provided an insight into their own experiences and partners worked together to develop ideas for improving services for families in the future.

Laura Mayes, cabinet member for children’s services, said, “Together with our partners we recognise it’s important we maximise the time we spend with families, and we provide that early support before small issues become major issues.

“This is important work which we can’t do alone. This event was an opportunity to underline that commitment to making our services the most effective they can be so our children and young people have the support to make good choices and have a bright future.”

Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden, Chief Officer for Crime, Justice and Vulnerability at Wiltshire Police, added, “Across the partnership we work collectively to design and maintain a system that ensures that those who need our help have access to the right people, with the right skills, at the right time.

“This event allowed us to develop our thinking further so we can continue in our collective resolve to work together to improve the lives of families and children across Wiltshire.”

Linda Prosser, Interim Chief Officer for Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group said, “The FACT partnership event was a fantastic opportunity to bring local organisations together to support our children and young people in Wiltshire. We are committed to working as a key member of the FACT partnership to help improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of families in Wiltshire.”