Southside Family Project

Overview

Southside supports individuals and families living in Bath and North East Somerset to make positive changes in their lives. Rooted in the heart of the communities we have served since 1997, Southside strives to reduce social isolation and to build strong, resilient communities.

We don’t have a magic wand – but based on an assessment of your needs we can provide a wide range of specific services that aim to give you the tools to make positive change in your life and that of your family.
These services can include domestic abuse support, advocacy and whole family support to meet the needs of children, young people and adults. Southside also provides counselling, coaching, hub groups, and volunteering opportunities.

What we do

Whole Family Support

Southside’s ‘Whole Family Support’ approach is integral to our work to meet multiple and complex needs within our communities. We promote the general wellbeing of the whole family and provide practical and emotional support to improve the life chances of individual family members.

Our trauma-informed whole family support is tailored to individual needs and aspirations, using evidence-based approaches, involving attachment theory, cognitive behavioural therapy, resilience, child development, Thrive, and Non-violent Resistance.

We work with each family to strengthen their safety, family wellbeing, relationships and connections, sense of identity, and resilience.

Therapeautic Play Service

Southside’s Therapeutic Play Service runs alongside our Family Support and Domestic Abuse services to provide in-depth therapeutic support for individual children and young people who have experienced trauma and adverse childhood experiences. Southside workers identify children who need this specialist support through assessments/reviews where children need help to build resilience and parent(s)/carers need help to understand their children’s needs and ensure that their resilience continues to grow.

The activities are:

• thINC Groups – these therapeutic emotional wellbeing groups enable children affected by trauma aged 7-11 years to build trusting relationships, explore feelings, express themselves and have fun whilst re-building confidence and self-esteem.
• Parent and Child Therapeutic Creative Workshops for children and their parent/carer together
• Therapeutic Family Play Sessions
• Individual parenting support to identify the impact of abuse and trauma on children and help access available support.

Therapeutic play sessions create a safe space to improve children’s confidence and self-esteem and provide opportunities to relax and have fun. Our play sessions are child led and emphasise children’s choice and control, in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. The workers use the Thrive approach, empathy, positive regard and congruency to help rebuild children’s confidence in themselves and in relationships with others. They help children to express their feelings of being unsafe, anxious and fearful and help them make sense of their experiences in order to overcome some of these these feelings. We give the children an opportunity to choose their own activities, try out new things and express themselves creatively.

We support parents to understand the impact of abuse, trauma and loss on their children, how to support them to process this within the family and learn ways to cope and deal with difficult feelings.

Hub Groups

Southside’s Family Food and Play Hubs in partnership with Bath Area Play Project take place after-school each week (during term-time) in Foxhill, Writhlington and Keynsham. 

These groups include a range of creative play activities and enable peer support – local families supporting each other on an equal basis based on shared experience. The groups close with a free shared family meal, prepared by our professional chef.

Throughout the winter, the hub groups offer warm welcoming spaces in the heart of our communities.

Our hub groups are co-produced with families in each local community, supported by staff and volunteers, to ensure maximum accessibility and engagement. The groups enable all family members across generations to socialise, meet and support each other and engage in creative play and other activities.

The groups are preventative services, providing advice and guidance on areas such as cooking, budgeting, first aid, work, education and training. The groups enable vulnerable families to ‘step up’ to specialist Family Support if needed, and provide supported ‘step down’ when structured support ends, pathways to volunteering and progression to paid work. Our local peer support networks build community capacity and support.

Where we do it

Our Family Support services can be accessed by families living in Bath and North East Somerset who have children aged between 5 to 19 years old living with them, and are at a point where they feel ready to make changes.

How to access

Contact Details:

Telephone: 01225 331243

Email: enquiries@south-side.org.uk

Meade House, Wedgewood Road, Bath BA2 1QN

Overview

Southside supports individuals and families living in Bath and North East Somerset to make positive changes in their lives. Rooted in the heart of the communities we have served since 1997, Southside strives to reduce social isolation and to build strong, resilient communities.

We don’t have a magic wand – but based on an assessment of your needs we can provide a wide range of specific services that aim to give you the tools to make positive change in your life and that of your family.
These services can include domestic abuse support, advocacy and whole family support to meet the needs of children, young people and adults. Southside also provides counselling, coaching, hub groups, and volunteering opportunities.

What we do

Domestic Abuse Support Services

Southside provides targeted and specialist support for people affected by domestic violence and abuse across Bath and North East Somerset. Southside’s team of Intake Workers and IDVAs (Independent Domestic Violence Advisors) supports people aged over 16 years who are experiencing domestic violence and abuse.

Southside’s services are inclusive: while women are most likely to experience domestic abuse, men, people in same-sex relationships, trans and non-binary people also experience abuse. Some people face additional barriers to accessing support and not recognising abusive behaviours. Our experienced team helps people to overcome these barriers, including an Older Persons’ IDVA to provide specialist support for people experiencing domestic abuse in later life. There are many factors that may make older people less likely to disclose domestic abuse, so this can often be unrecognised.

Southside’s work is trauma-informed, therapeutically focused and supports victims of domestic violence and abuse, and their families, to find solutions that last. Specialist domestic abuse support enables victims to improve their safety, quality of life and self-confidence. Southside’s in-depth support starts with a detailed assessment of each victim’s needs and risk level. Our workers develop a safety and support plan with the individual, empower and support them throughout the tailored work.

Intake Service
Southside’s Intake Service is the first point of access for people experiencing domestic violence and abuse. Intake support includes initial triage, risk assessment and advice on the services and choices available to victims. This may include further domestic abuse support from the IDVA service or signposting to other partner agencies where appropriate. This ensures that people experiencing domestic violence and abuse can access the right trauma informed support at the right time for them.

IDVA Service
The IDVA (Independent Domestic Violence Advocate) service provides one-to-one outreach support, including crisis support for victims at high-risk of serious harm or death, which is critical to help them at times of crisis to access the safety and help that they need, and to safeguard their children. Southside’s IDVAs provide risk assessment, safety and support planning and can help victims with support and advocacy, for example in relation to Criminal and/or Family Court proceedings.

An IDVA will also work with other statutory and voluntary agencies including Southside’s Family Support Service to reduce the risk and impact of domestic abuse to victims and their children in order to achieve long lasting change.

IRIS (Identification and Referral to Improve Safety)
The Southside IRIS Advocate works in partnership with medical teams in GP surgeries across Bath and North East Somerset to provide training and to raise awareness of issues around domestic violence and abuse, support their staff and clinicians to recognise signs of domestic abuse, and raise their awareness and confidence to ‘ask the question’ and make referrals to Southside for support.

The IRIS Advocate service provides tailored support and advice to people experiencing domestic abuse who have been identified and referred into the service by their GP.

Where we do it

Southside provides targeted and specialist support for people affected by domestic violence and abuse across Bath and North East Somerset.

How to access

If you, someone you are with, a family member or friend, or someone you are supporting is experiencing domestic abuse and is at imminent risk of harm, you should always phone 999. The Police will be able to arrange to get you to a safe place and will ask if you want further support from Southside.

During our office hours below, you are welcome to contact us directly for advice, information and signposting, or when appropriate we may take a self-referral.

Opening hours:
Monday – Thursday: 9am – 5pm
Fridays: 9am-4pm

Bank holidays and Christmas opening hours may vary.

Our phone number is 01225 331243 and email address is enquiries@south-side.org.uk