WHILST the start of 2021 found us all back in an unexpected lockdown, with schools once again closed for the foreseeable future, here at Clear Sky we have dug deep and once again found creative ways to ensure that we are still able to provide therapeutic support and services to as many vulnerable children and their families as we possibly can.

With a definite upsurge in children being referred to us for support over the past academic term, we are fortunate as ‘Key Workers’ to still deliver one to one therapy to those struggling with trauma who are still attending schools.

We are all too aware however that all families will be struggling with the third lockdown and balancing the mix of home-schooling, work and other responsibilities. We wanted to provide as much support we could for families during the cold and shorter winter days and a are proud to have produced our Parents Play Kit for families which we are distributing for free this #Children’sMentalHealthWeek. You can download the kit for free on our website: https://www.clear-sky.org.uk/

An extension to the playful resources that we provided in Lockdown 1 last Spring, our 95- page book gives parents strategies, games and ideas to help them support their children whilst at home; giving a mix of playful ideas and information to help parents to understand their children’s behaviour.

As well as our support for parents, we are adapting our professional services too and we will be delivering the first of our 2-day face to face training courses virtually this coming week to Social Workers in Warwickshire! The first of 4 full courses to be delivered online, we are looking forward to supporting those who work with children to adopt new skills and gain confidence in their professional practice in a new way.

We were also delighted to become Title Holders for Debi Maskell-Graham’s suite of Attachment Play Courses in January and look forward to continuing to share this important work to practitioners around the globe! We look forward to developing these courses to e-learning modules over the coming months so that we can distribute these onto our therapeutic partners both at home and overseas.

Meanwhile, our Learning Institute goes from strength to strength, with our first LIVE training for our members coming up this March, courtesy of our guest expert Graham Music PhD.

Looking ahead, we are proud to have contributed towards our third research paper under our membership of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for a Fit and Healthy Childhood, into the effects of lockdown on children’ mental health. We hope to help highlight the importance of children’s wellbeing and support the great work done by so many in our field to look after children and their families in the current environment.

With a new website, digital development and exciting research on the horizon this spring, we are looking forward to 2021 and all the creative opportunities ahead!