The charity 4Children is the lead partner in the centre, which got underway this summer and that now hosts a wide range of services. Forinstance, Mid Essex Primary Care Trust runs health education serviceslike eye and hearing tests, speech and language therapy and a nurseryfor children with special needs, while 4Children has a day nursery,holiday club, and an after-school club for five- to 11-year-olds.
Essex County Council youth service has a team based there, offeringservices such as alternative education for children not in school and agroup for teenage mums. And other groups, including the localHome-Start, also use the centre.
Lindsell's role is to forge links between these groups andprofessionals.
"I don't manage all the staff, but I do manage what we're trying to doin terms of bringing services together," she says.
It's a new way of working, particularly for NHS staff, but they haveembraced the change and the different services mesh well. For example,4Children supports the primary care trust's classes for young parentsand those suffering low self-esteem and depression by providingchildcare, and participants in the youth service's alternative educationgroup have made things for the nursery.
In addition, the way the centre is set up means that health visitors,the speech and language team, and other professionals can pop intosupport groups for teenage mothers to offer advice. Just half an hourspent passing on tips and information can make a huge difference,believes Lindsell.
This is just the start, and Lindsell firmly believes there areopportunities to develop new services. She wants to establish familycounselling, for instance, a weekend group for fathers and more supportfor teenage dads.
It's also an opportunity to test new partnerships. For example, healthvisitors are going to run a health clinic at the youth centre."Teenagers might not go to the doctors, but here they're essentially acaptive audience," says Lindsell. "We're trialling a lot of things. Whatwe're doing here is different and people are excited about that."
TOP TIPS
- Be up for trying anything. How else do you find out if somethingworks?
- Talk to people. Lindsell talks to all her groups, gets feedback andtakes it on board
- Sharing information is vital and helps other professionals deliverbetter services.
