Free support sessions and toolkit available to thousands of parents in Devon
Police in South Devon are supporting the launch of the ‘Let’s Talk’ programme, which aims to help parents and guardians understand more about the challenges young people are facing today, including drugs, alcohol and mental health.
‘Let’s Talk’ has been created and developed by Safer Devon. The programme contains a mixture of resources that are completely free, including virtual toolkits and online sessions to support parents and guardians with young people aged 9-18.
Chief Inspector Miranda Pusey, who heads up the neighbourhood police teams in South Devon, said: “These free resources are invaluable. ‘Let’s Talk’ covers a number of topics that we see regularly as police officers that are impacting young people, such as drugs, exploitation and online safety.
“They provide reliable information in a bitesize format to share important messages, including warning signs to look out for, where to go for help and support, and guidance about how parents and guardians can support young people impacted by the issues discussed.
“Prevention and education are key in making sure young people don’t get involved in crime or antisocial behaviour. We understand it can be hard to know what advice to listen to. It can feel overwhelming with the sheer amount of information that is available on websites, books and videos, so whenever it is possible, our officers signpost parents and guardians to access the free ‘Let’s Talk’ toolkits and sessions, knowing that they can access useful information from a trustworthy source.”
Nearly 6,000 people in Devon have completed the course or accessed the free online resources. One parent shared feedback on the sessions and said: “I have been feeling so alone and isolated as a single parent. This has made me feel supported in just an hour and a half.”
Another person shared how they felt empowered after attending the online session saying: “You’ve really helped give me the strength to persevere with, and not give up on, my parenting efforts, as well as giving me some excellent tools.”
Rebecca Hewitt, Chair of South Devon and Dartmoor Community Safety Partnership, said: “We at the Let’s Talk team wanted to find a way to tackle community safety issues across our area. We believe that prevention is the key and that parents and carers are a vital part of the solution. So in order to help, we wanted to make information around these subjects freely available in a non-judgemental and easy to access way so parents and carers can support their children to become happy, resilient young people who can safely manage risk.
"We know from experience that parenting is incredibly difficult and the feedback we have received shows us that parents really value the information we are providing and feel that the Let’s Talk programme has helped them. We will endeavour to keep providing these sessions in order to help as many parents and carers as possible navigate the challenging yet rewarding job of parenting.”
There are a range of resources available from ‘Let’s Talk’ for different age groups, including pre-teens and teenagers. Visit the Let’s Talk section on the Safer Devon website to access the free online toolkits and to register for the online sessions.
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