SVPP Newsletter Issue 26
SVPP Newsletter Issue 26
Welcome to the Wiltshire SVPP’s e-newsletter bringing you the latest news and updates from the SVPP, including the Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership (CSP).
News in Brief
Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership Strategy 2022-2025
The CSP is required by law under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (2007 regulations) to produce a three-year strategy. This has been produced in conjunction with Wiltshire Police’s Force Strategic Assessment, Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Plan and Wiltshire Council’s Joint Strategic Needs Analysis, to get as clear a picture as possible of the main community safety issues facing our residents. You can read a copy of the Strategy here.
For more information about Wiltshire’s Community Safety Partnership, please contact svpp@wiltshire.gov.uk
Children’s Practitioner Forum
The first meeting of our refreshed Children’s Practitioner Forum took place on Tuesday 10th March, with terms of reference being agreed and a chair selected. There was wide ranging discussion on the strengths and challenges within our system here in Wiltshire, and future agenda items will be formulated to further explore these. This forum is also a key space for practitioners to reflect and feedback on the use of key tools – the NSPCC Graded Care Profile 2 tool for assessing the risk of neglect, and also the CUDIT-R tool for assessing the impact of cannabis use on parenting capacity. Further details on these tools can be found on our website, including guidance on the use of the CUDIT-R here and a webinar explaining the evidence base is available in our Virtual College Portal.
Future dates were agreed as 9th June and 10th November, and you can register to be added to the distribution list here. The forum is for any frontline practitioner who is working with children, young people or families.
All Together Journey & Early Support Process Training – Update
Over the autumn term, we shared our commitment to delivering the Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP) across Wiltshire.
The Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP) is a flagship reform initiative from the Department for Education (DfE), designed to transform how families are supported and how child protection is delivered across England. The programme forms part of the government’s Plan for Change and is underpinned by the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (2024). FFPP focuses on strengthening early intervention, reducing unnecessary escalation, and improving multi-agency safeguarding. Wiltshire is delivering FFPP through the established Families and Children Transformation (FACT) Programme, ensuring alignment with existing work and avoiding unnecessary structural change.
A key element of the reforms is ensuring families receive timely and coordinated support without having to repeat their story. To support this ambition, we have been working with many of you to develop a single, holistic assessment and planning framework across the continuum of need—currently referred to as the All Together Journey—originally scheduled for launch in April 2026. This will replace the Early Support Assessment in Wiltshire, as well as some other processes.
In December 2025, the DfE issued new guidance that significantly affects the case management systems used across children’s services. As a result, we have taken the decision to launch the All Together Journey once all supporting technical elements are fully in place for every partner. This approach will ensure the system operates smoothly from the outset and provides a consistent, high-quality experience for families and practitioners alike. We will provide further updates once the development timelines are confirmed.
For further information please contact: Clare Smith: Clare.Smith@wiltshire.gov.uk or Steph Coomber Stephanie.coomber@wiltshire.gov.uk
As a result of this change we are restarting the Early Support Assessment Process Training Course that had been suspended pending the new All Together Journey being launched. Dates have been set for April, May & June, and further dates from September are being identified. You can register for this two hour course, delivered via MS Teams via the SVPP Virtual College platform – further details can be found here.
Wiltshire's Social Care Community Fayre
Wiltshire Council is inviting people to discover the wide range of community groups, charities and local services that support children, young people, families and adults in Wiltshire at the upcoming Social Care Community Fayre.
Coinciding with World Social Work Day 2026, the event takes place on Tuesday 17 March, from 10am to 4pm in the Atrium at County Hall, Trowbridge. The Fayre will bring together organisations dedicated to supporting residents of all ages - from early childhood through to older adulthood - promoting wellbeing, independence, and stronger communities.
With a diverse mix of stalls, the Fayre offers a free opportunity to:
- Meet local organisations, charities, and community groups
- Discover the support available for children, families, adults and carers
- Learn about services that promote wellbeing, independence, and community connection
- Chat directly with the people delivering children's social care, early help, family support and adult social care across Wiltshire
The event is open to everyone, from residents looking for support for themselves or a loved one, families accessing early help, unpaid carers, volunteers and professionals working in local services. People looking for adult social care information can find guidance on independent living, shared lives, home adaptations, reablement and recovery, wellbeing technology, mental health support, community connections and care options. Those interested in children's services can learn about fostering, early help, emotional wellbeing activities, safeguarding support, services for young carers, transitions into adulthood and education support.
Our aim is to make it easier for people to access the advice and services they need to live well, stay connected, and remain independent for as long as possible.
FearFree Connect – New e-bulletin for professionals
FearFree have unveiled their 2026 - 2029 strategy which has been developed in partnership with the people they support, sector professionals and staff. There is a live webinar at 3pm on Thursday 19th March where CEO, Debbie Beadle will present the strategy and share what it means for the future.
New: Professionals Section on the Website
A new professionals section has launched on their website. This section is still a work in progress, with additional pages and content to be added in due course, so please keep checking back for updates. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please email media@fearfree.org.uk or visit their website here.
Free Training – Connect
Professionals working with children and young people are invited to attend free specialist training on drugs and alcohol in 2026, delivered by Connect (Wiltshire’s Drug and Alcohol Service).
This training has been designed to strengthen your confidence, knowledge, and practical skills when supporting young people affected by substance use. Whether you work in education, health, social care, youth work, early help, or a community setting, this session will offer valuable insights and tools you can apply immediately in your practice.
How to book - Please book using the individual links for each course below;
Ketamine bitesize Training – 30 minutes
Ketamine use has increased significantly over the last few years amongst young people and adults. This bitesize training gives an overview of ketamine covering:
What is Ketamine, how it affects you, risks of using ketamine and support available
Click here to book on Ketamine bitesize Thursday 19th March at 9:30am
Drug Awareness (Young People) – 2.5 hours
An interactive course with information on young people’s drug use locally & nationally, highlighting emerging trends. Also includes information on: street names, appearance, how taken, effects, risks, signs to look out for and changes in drug supply (social media, county lines).
Click here to book on to Drug Awareness on Wednesday 30th September at 1:30pm
Alcohol Awareness (Young People) – 2 hours
As well as giving a background to young alcohol use, these sessions teach professionals how to best work with young people when issues occur. The session looks at DHI’s The Wrap and Drink Think tools, along with others
Click here to book on to Alcohol Awareness on Thursday 7th May at 10am
Click here to book on to Alcohol Awareness on Wednesday 9th December at 2pm
Parental Substance Misuse Training – 2 hours
Parental substance misuse is the long-term misuse of drugs and/or alcohol by a parent or carer. This course looks at:
- Understanding the prevalence of parental substance misuse locally and nationally
- Understanding the correlation of parental substance misuse and children in need referrals
- How substance misuse can have negative effects on children at different stages in their lives
Click here to book on to Parental Substance Misuse Wednesday 8th April at 2pm
Click here to book on to Parental Substance Misuse Wednesday 14th October at 10am
Please direct any queries to info@dhiconnect.org.uk
Self-Harm Training
There are some spaces available on the upcoming Self-Harm Awareness training sessions on:
Tuesday 24 March, 09:30 –12:30 (via Zoom)
To book, please scan the QR code below. Feel free to share with colleagues who may be interested.
About the Training
Public Health is working with 4Mental Health to offer free self-harm awareness training. The session covers:
- Challenging myths and stigma
- Understanding reasons behind self-harm
- Practical approaches for supporting someone in distress
Economic Abuse
We have an Economic Abuse factsheet for professionals on the SVPP website Policies, Reports, Guidance and Resources page (included under the Adult Safeguarding accordion). Economic Abuse is a type of domestic abuse. It happens when someone controls your money or your ability to be financially independent. It can take place alongside other kinds of abusive behaviour. Economic Abuse is designed to reinforce or create economic instability. In this way, it limits [the victim’s] choices and ability to access safety. For support you can contact FearFree – Wiltshire’s commissioned Domestic Abuse service, offering practical help and support in Wiltshire or you can call: 01225 775276 Mon-Fri 9am – 5pm, Surviving Economic Abuse – a charity offering advice and support regarding Domestic Abuse, Women’s Aid – a national charity providing support for women and children, Refuge – a national charity with information about how to spot types of Domestic Abuse.
Upcoming campaigns and dates for the diary
National Fearless Campaign
Fearless is the dedicated youth service of the charity Crimestoppers, where young people can access non-judgemental information and advice about crime and criminality. Young people can pass on information about crime, 100% anonymously via the online form at Fearless.org or by calling 0800 555 111. The service is available 24/7, 365 days a year. From 26 January 2026, Fearless launched a national brand campaign to raise awareness of crime-related issues affecting young people. The campaign aims to empower them to speak up, seek support, and take positive action. Through targeted communications, the campaign will promote the Fearless anonymous reporting service and build trust and confidence within local communities to speak up and report crime.
Please support this campaign - you can get access by reaching out to Fearless@crimestoppers-uk.org Static social media images can also be downloaded from the website https://crimestoppers-uk.org/fearless/professionals/resources
As part of Child Exploitation Awareness Week, we would like to invite you to a learning event hosted by the Community Safety Partnership Children & Young People’s Exploitation Working Group.
This virtual event will take place on Child Exploitation Awareness Day, Wednesday 18th of March 2026, 10:00 – 12:30 via Microsoft Teams.
The event will give you an opportunity to find out more about:
- The work of our Missing Children Coordinators
- Work relating to the National Referral Mechanism
- The new Missing & Exploitation Unit at Wiltshire Police
- Focused Deterrence
- Emerging risks around ketamine
- The lived experiences of children and families
- Developments in this area of work
If you would like to attend, please contact svpp@wiltshire.gov.uk
SVPP Training and Learning Events
SVPP Courses – Availability
- 03.2026 – Domestic Abuse Training
- 03.2026 – Working Together: A Shared Responsibility
- 03.2026 – Prevent: Extremist Ideology – Islamist (Open to anyone who has already attended the Prevent Awareness course)
- 03.2026 – Child Exploitation and County Lines Awareness Training *THIS IS THE LAST TIME THIS COURSE WILL BE RUN*
- 04.2026 – Prevent: Extremist Ideology – Extreme Right-Wing (Open to anyone who has already attended the Prevent Awareness course)
- 04.2026 – DASH Risk Assessment and MARAC Training
- 04.2026 – Specialist Advanced Practitioner Training
- 04.2026 – Prevent: Extremist Ideology – Emerging (Open to anyone who has already attended the Prevent Awareness course)
Previous Webinars
Did you know that many of our webinars, including Safeguarding Week sessions from 2024 & 2025 have been recorded, so if you were unable to attend on the day you can catch up? A complete list can be found at Wiltshire Safeguarding Vulnerable People Partnership (SVPP) - Webinars and there are now over 40 different sessions that may be of interest – they are great for some self-directed CPD, to share and focus a team meeting or reflective discussion on or to include as part of staff or volunteer induction, along with our comprehensive eLearning offer via our Virtual College platform.
E-Learning
SVPP offer a range of safeguarding e-learning modules which can be accessed at your convenience. Please select the ‘Learning’ tile, then ‘Available Learning’ on your Virtual College account.
New! Prevent and COM Network videos
The following bite-sized training videos and COM Network webinar recordings are now available. These can be accessed in the same way as E-Learning (above).
- Key Principles of Prevent (10-minute video)
- Prevent and Safeguarding (16-minute video)
- Prevent: Risk and Susceptibility (18-minute video)
- Prevent Referrals Webinar Recording (51-minute video)
- Wiltshire Nihilistic Violent Extremism / COM Network Webinar Recording (1 hr, 12-minute video)
- Swindon Safeguarding Partnership (SSP) COM Network Webinar Recording (1 hr, 30-minute video)
- Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership COM Network Webinar Recording (20-minute video)