THE Ross Family Hub have appointed a new family link worker to help identify and resolve potential issues in the town.

Tim Shelley, Haygrove Community Gardens manager explained at last week’s launch event, that the hub had obtained funding for the position of a family link worker and that they had appointed Tina Knapman to the role.

Ms Knapman said that as part of her role, she has already made contact with John Kyrle High School and together they are looking to establish if there is a need for help and assistance that is currently not being met.

“Out of this enquiry I already have three families to talk to and I will investigate what needs thes families may require,” said Ms Knapman.

“Very often it is children with anxiety, who struggle to attend school, that needs help. If through our work we can get one child to reintegrate with school, then that will feel very rewarding.

“We are looking at bringing children, who are home schooled, into the Haygrove Community Gardens and work with them to help them to help provide them with life skills, which includes cooking and even gardening.

“We are also looking at providing transition work to compliment the work that schools already undertake.

“Ideally this would be linking those in year six at primary school with those in year seven at the High School, who’ve already made the transition.

“It’s these demons that we need to try and address. Moving from a small primary school to a large educational establishment can appear to be very noisy and very busy to some, so its understandable why some children became very nervous.

“Peer support is also crucial and we will be looking to develop this in the future.

“We are also working with other organisations including Ross Children’s Centre and seeing if there is a need which requires fulfilling. Already highlighted is the transferring to school from the nursery environment and those with special education needs.

“We want to build on the work that others have already began, not by stepping on their toes as it were, but to develop it further.

Mr Shelly said that this launch was all about getting to meet representatives from other organisations already working in the town and county and linking up with the Ross Family Hub.

“There are some other amazing bodies locally doing similar things and we don’t want people to be defensive about what they are doing, but work in collaboration with the Ross Family Hub.

“We want to celebrate what’s going on locally and find the gaps that these organisations are not working in and make these our targets.”

Rev’d Caroline Pascoe said: “There are numerous organisations working with young people in Ross and beyond, the Church of England is no different as it is concerned about children’s wellbeing.

“The church has a vision to release funding to enable chaplains and chaplain support to go into secondary schools, and discussions are ongoing with John Kyrle High School.

“The idea is similar to Ross Family Hub’s objective of linking community, family life and schools together and make a difference. Ultimately, we would work in tandem.”

The Community Garden has been welcoming children through it gates as part of its school visit programme.

Last year around 900 children visited the Haygrove Community Garden. The facility has also been running cooking and growing clubs and by supporting families, particularly through its zero-waste stall and the free pre-loved school uniform stall, the need for additional help was observed.

This led to the formation of applying for funding to appoint a family link worker. This part-time position was achieved with a grant from the Safer Communities Fund.  Ms Knapman will be running activities for families from the community garden and throughout the town.