News

Holiday Activities for Disadvantaged Children

Hertfordshire County Council has joined forces with Herts Sports Partnership and the Hertfordshire Community Foundation to deliver healthy food and activities over the Easter and May holidays. The HAPpy Holiday Activities Programme is open to all children and young people in Hertfordshire but is particularly aimed at the county’s most disadvantaged children. Children and young people will be able to take part in a range of sports and cultural activities, as well as receive advice on nutrition and cooking skills to enhance their health and wellbeing, with those in receipt of free school meals eligible to attend for free. The HAPpy scheme will be delivered across Hertfordshire during the Easter and May school holidays and in recognition of ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the programme is being twin-tracked to include both face-toface and online activities. Further details at: website

Fun and friendly inclusive dance classes

• After school SEND specific dance classes in

Hertford and Hitchin • Movement to Music for

Over 60s in locations in

Hertfordshire and

Bedfordshire

• Seated Dance for Care

Homes, Dementia Support groups, Residential Living • Inclusive Dance for SEND and mainstream schools,

Adult Day Services, SEND

specific support groups info.imaginationarts@yahoo.com | 07394 934911 Fostering could be your calling in life

Are you someone who has always wanted to make a difference to others?

The Covid-19 pandemic may have led to big changes in your life or current job, and you may now have the time to consider taking the next step in fostering a child.

Foster carers Jools and Ed have fostered 14 children with Hertfordshire County Council and decided to foster because they “wanted to be heavily involved in helping to create better paths and lives for these children”.

“I’ve been in careers and always felt like there’s something missing. With fostering, that missing piece has gone now, it has been filled,” says Ed.

“I think everyone has a role to play in life, and some people go through life not finding what they’re meant to be doing, but in fostering, I think I’ve found that. It’s been an amazing journey.”

There are many children in desperate need of a family. Each month, Hertfordshire County Council receives an average of 55 requests for new foster placements.

There are many different types of fostering and foster carers can choose what is right for them. Foster carers receive a weekly payment for their skills plus a weekly allowance for each child they look after, as well as full training and unrivalled support.

To become a foster carer in Hertfordshire, you must be over 21 years old, and have at least one spare room at home. To find out more about fostering visit, website.

Body THERAPY HYPERBARIC OXYGEN

& Drug-Free Healing Ltd.

HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a medical treatment which enhances the body’s natural healing process by inhalati on of 100% oxygen in a total body chamber, where atmospheric pressure is increased and controlled.

Positi ve eff ects of applicati on: Helps boost immune system - Helps reduce infl ammati on - Positi ve impact to mental & physical wellbeing - Supports the body to detoxify - Enhances sport performance. Some conditi ons supported are:

ADD/ADHD, Alzheimer/Dementi a, Anxiety/Depression, Helps healing process, Injury recovery, Pre/post-surgery recovery, Eczema/Psoriasis,

Eye sight, Stroke, Heart att ack, boost immune system, Lung conditi ons, Support cancer therapy and many more.....

TEMPLE Clinic Ellen House, 63 London Road, St. Albans Hertf ordshire. AL1 1L J Phone No. 07889 759677 Email. bdytherapyhbot@hotmail.com www.bdytherapy.co.uk

What happens if you object to your child having the Covid-19 vaccine?

Debenham’s Ottaway Family Partner, Helen Young, explains the legal steps involved if there is a dispute between parents about whether a child should receive the vaccination

Although the Covid-19 vaccine has not yet been tested or approved for children, if it is and Public Health England recommends children receive it, a minority of parents are likely to disagree over whether their child should have the vaccine. Vaccinations should only be given to children where all those with parental responsibility agree. Therefore, if the vaccine is offered, and there is a dispute between parents about whether a child should receive the vaccination, an application to the family court should be made for a specific issue order to determine whether the child should be vaccinated. As the vaccine is not yet available for children, hypothetical applications should not be made, as the judge in a recent case declined to make a specific issue order about the Covid-19 vaccine. Any future applications will be determined following consideration of the welfare of the child and what is known as the ‘welfare checklist’.

A parent who objects to their child having the coronavirus vaccine, or any other vaccine available on the NHS, would have to show there is a credible development in medical science or new peer-reviewed research evidence indicating significant concern for the efficacy or safety of a vaccine. Alternatively, they would have to show a well evidenced medical condition specific to the child to show that the vaccine could be harmful to them. In the absence of such evidence, it is likely that a family court will determine that it is in a child’s best interests to receive a vaccine which has been approved by Public Health England and is offered by the NHS and accordingly grant a specific issue order for the child to be vaccinated.

Helen Young Family Partner

To contact Debenhams Ottaway email hy@debenhamsottaway.co.uk, call 01727 738212 or visit debenhamsottaway.co.uk

Summer in the Alps

The Alps may be an obvious destination for the ski season, but how about a summer visit?

Summer offers enough green (the mountains) and blue (the sky) to set you up for the whole year – and plenty of fresh air to fill your families’ lungs.

With reasonably priced flights from London airports to Geneva then a short drive to Morzine, there is a warm welcome waiting from Paul and Francesca Eyre at Chilly Powder. With the main chalet - Au Coin du Feu - plus two chalets next door, you can organise your own meals, or join the party at ‘Au Coin du Feu’ for dinners that you usually only dream of.

Family friendly early evening meals for the children and a daytime crèche for little ones not quite as active as you, with drinks in the bar for the grown ups – or in the Jacuzzi on the terrace – will make you wish that this was home!

For more about Chilly Powder chalets for summer and winter stays visit website and for more about summer in Morzine visit website