Useful Links for Parents
Help, Advice and Support for Familes
Information on how families can access help and support:
We Can Help: www.oldham.gov.uk/wecanhelp
Free School Meals (FSM) eligibility checker: www.oldham.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals
Children and family benefits: www.oldham.gov.uk/info/200230/early_years/194/children_and_family_benefits
Help paying for childcare eligibility checker: www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
Healthy Start Voucher – pre-birth to 4 years https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/
Benefits checker https://www.entitledto.co.uk/
School Readiness
www.oldham.gov.uk/info/200246/families_and_parenting/2828/birth_to_5_years/7
Online Solihull Parenting Courses (worth £100) aligned with best parenting practice is free to use for anyone in Oldham.
Parents, carers, grandparents, and staff can access the resources by entering the passcode: DAISY into this web page: https://inourplace.heiapply.com/online-learning.
Get Oldham Working: www.oldham.gov.uk/gow
This may help – This is a new national initiative providing mental health advice to parents and carers who have concerns about their child’s mental health: https://thismayhelp.me
How to Entertain the Kids Advice
Get Birding Podcasts
Presented by Dr Mya-Rose Craig, the Get Birding series encourages people up and down the UK to look out of their windows, venture into their gardens and walk through their local parks to get to know Britain’s birds, our most accessible connection with nature.
https://shows.acast.com/get-birding
Geocaching
Why not download the geocaching app and go treasure hunting as a family!
https://www.geocaching.com/play
#GetOutside
Join the #GetOutside campaign and mix up your daily exercise – find ideas and challenge calendars for getting outside and trying new things.
https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/getoutside-inside/
Wildlife Competition
Photography is one of the many ways you can get out and embrace the wilderness. Why not submit a photograph to a wildlife photography competition? There are plenty to choose from.
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/other-ways-get-involved/wildlifephotography
WWF Garden Safaris
A garden safari is a fun way for families and young people to explore their gardens - or other outdoor spaces - and learn more about local flora and fauna using the SEEK app.
https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/love-nature/garden-safari
https://www.wwf.org.uk/discover-nature-seek-app
#LearnToLoveNature
WWF provide a series of fun 'make-it' activities that have been designed to encourage wildlife into your local area and explore your love of nature.
https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/love-nature/get-making
Get Out with the Kids
A database of family-friendly outdoor adventure ideas.
https://www.getoutwiththekids.co.uk
Let's Go with the Children
Search for activities and events near you.
Money Saving Expert.com - Family
Great offers on days out and deals for a great time with the kids.
Kids activities, days out & school holiday ideas – MoneySavingExpert
POINT - Additional Needs and Disabilities Events
Ability Wheelz
Ability Wheelz provides opportunities for children, young people and adults with additional needs and/or disabilities to access a wide range of adapted and universal cycles in Alexandra Park. The whole family can enjoy exercise, whilst learning to cycle.
Our location within the award winning Alexandra Park, Oldham gives you clean green space where you can not only enjoy exercise and activity, but where our person centred offer enables service users to access a range of events, peer support opportunities and the chance to learn new skills.
Ability Wheelz now offer 'Learn to ride' cycling lesson, so that children, young people, and adults with or without additional needs can learn to ride a bike and enjoy the independence and health benefits this can bring.
Riding for the Disabled Association RDA
With fun activities like riding and carriage driving, RDA provide therapy, fitness, skills development and opportunities for achievement. RDA is an inclusive and diverse organisation. They welcome clients with physical and learning disabilities and autism, and there are no age restrictions.
https://www.rda.org.uk
The Disabled Ramblers
The Disabled Ramblers is a small charity working across England and Wales to help make the countryside more accessible to people with limited mobility – which benefits everyone. They run 25 – 30 rambles designed for mobility scooters each year, organised into groups of 3 or 4 in selected areas of the country. They are run from April to October, whatever the weather.
http://disabledramblers.co.uk
Beach Wheelchairs
Beach Wheelchairs is a Scottish Charity which believes that everyone has the right to enjoy our beautiful beaches. All of the wheelchairs have been specially designed to enable individuals with disabilities to get back on the beach. Unlike a standard manual wheelchair they have large, rubber wheels which move easily over the sand. They hire out beach wheelchairs free of charge from each of our seaside locations using local volunteers.
http://www.beachwheelchairs.org
Oldham Libraries - Events
Mahdlo Youth Zone
State of the art youth zone in the heart of Oldham for 8 to 19 year olds. Open 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year, we offer an exciting range of activities and opportunities that all young people from across Oldham can access for just 50p as a member.
Oldham Active
You can find information on our Swim, Gym and Classes, our extra activities including Outdoor, Sports and Leagues.
Gallery Oldham
The Best of Oldham
Day Out with Kids - Things to do in Oldham and Greater Manchester
Go Oldham
Here's our guide to find fun stuff to do in Oldham. There's loads happening to get involved with, so get started and use the search facility to find activities that interest you.
Operation Encompass
Operation Encompass is a police and education early information sharing partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support for children and young people experiencing domestic abuse. Information is shared by the police with a school's trained Key Adult (DSL) prior to the start of the next school day after officers have attended a domestic abuse incident thus enabling appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.
Children experiencing domestic abuse are negatively impacted by this exposure; domestic abuse has been identified as an Adverse Childhood Experience and can lead to emotional, physical and psychological harm. Operation Encompass aims to mitigate this harm by enabling immediate support, making a child's day better and giving them a better tomorrow.
Operation Encompass believes that children are victims of domestic abuse in their own right and should be acknowledged as such.
For more information please click on the picture link to visit their website.
Head Lice Advice
Change 4 Life
These days, ’modern life’ can mean that we’re a lot less active. With so many opportunities to watch TV or play computer games, and with so much convenience and fast food available, we don’t move about as much, or eat as well as we used to. Nine out of 10 of our kids today could grow up with dangerous amounts of fat in their bodies. This can cause life-threatening diseases like cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.