Children And Young People Service (CYPS)
Our Children and Young People’s Service consists of a team of therapeutic play specialists offering a range of services for children and young people between the ages of 0-18 years, that enable and support their recovery from domestic abuse and violence.
At Manchester Women's Aid, we have a partnership with Manchester City Council to help deliver programmes of support for families seeking help in refuge.
We provide therapeutic intervention work on a one-to-one basis as well as groupwork sessions, to families living in refuge and in the community. In the last year, 225 children and young people received support from our service, with 438 groupwork sessions being hosted and 368 one-to-one therapeutic intervention sessions being held.
This year we are celebrating 50 years of Manchester Women’s Aid, and we will be fundraising throughout the year, with a focus on raising money for our CYP service.
Healthy relationships
We know that the impact of domestic abuse and violence in homes can have a lasting effect on children’s mental, physical, and future health, and that children and young people must receive the same level of support as adult survivors. This will help them understand healthy relationships, build self-awareness and confidence, and have the skills to regulate their emotions.
CHILDREN'S GROUPWORK
EARLY YEARS GROUPWORK
This groupwork course is designed for children under 5 years old and their parent and focuses on allowing parent and child to have a positive experience together by engaging in craft activities which can help to strengthen attachments.
HEALING TOGETHER
This course is for children aged 5-10 years old and focuses on helping children to recover from trauma by developing their emotional literacy and coping strategies to deal with difficult or complex feelings. Each session has been carefully crafted so children can learn about how their body and brain works together, their feelings, senses, and strategies they can use to help their body and brain feel safe.
LIVING LIFE TO THE FULL
This course is for CYP aged 11-17 years old and is a health and wellbeing course looking at behaviours, understanding our thoughts and feelings, controlling anxiety and relaxation techniques. It has a practical focus with resources to help plan changes that young people could make in their own lives.
YOU AND ME, MUM
This course is for mothers, and it explores the effects of domestic abuse on women as mothers and on children and young people. It focuses on effective communication skills, healthy relationships and protective behaviours and strategies.
OPEN PLAY
In refuge, all children over the age of 5 are invited to the Open play sessions. This is a chance to socialise with other children at the refuge. Open play sessions are a great way to play freely and with other children in the refuge. The sessions are created to meet the needs of the children at the refuge as they are child-led.
HEURISTIC PLAY
Heuristic play is offered to all 0-5 years old children and their parent in refuge. Heuristic play involves exploring a range of objects in different ways and moving around with them in a safe environment. The parent and therapeutic play worker will be present, but the child will be given the freedom to explore these shapes, materials, smells, and textures.
1:1 PLAY THERAPY
We offer eight 1:1 sessions for children and young people aged 5-18 living in refuge. Therapeutic play helps children understand muddled feelings and upsetting events that they haven’t had the chance to process properly. Play is used to communicate at the young person’s own level and pace, without feeling questioned or threatened.
TRIPS OUT
We also offer day trips during the holidays to our families in refuge; previous trips have included a day out at the zoo, party in the park and trips to the theatre.
Additionally, we provide access to online training, for parents and children, plus more.
