Resources for Families to Make life easier
Autism Central is a peer education programme, commissioned by NHS England. It aims to build knowledge and understanding of autism and empower families and carers to advocate for autistic people they support. Local support helps families to get the right understanding and adjustments in place across the services they use. Everything the programme does is informed by, or co-produced with autistic people, families and carers.
Autism Central hubs deliver the programme in seven regions across England through group and one-to-one sessions, giving information on local services. Each session is delivered by parents and carers of autistic people who are happy to share their knowledge and experience with others.
North West delivered by Great Minds Together | Autism Central
Calibre Audio is a national charity which provides free audiobooks to children and young people under 25 years with SEND.
Poster: Free audiobook for kids
Poster: Free audiobook for under 25s
We are a free service providing information for parents, carers, children and young people and those working with families in Bury.
We are the main contact for updating and searching information for Children and Families on The Bury Directory, where we have information for children and young people aged 0-19 ranging from searching for Childcare Provision to a section for Teenagers.
We also have information on activities for children and families such as guides and scouts and community activities in our Leisure and recreation section. There is even a section on Sports.
There is also a section dedicated to Information for Childcare Providers, which has information relating to various services available to providers in the Bury area.
Unable to find the childcare you need
If you are still unable to find the childcare you need our Brokerage Service may be able to help.
This service is for parents and carers who:
- have exhausted the normal routes of finding childcare and are still unable to find childcare which meets their needs
- need extra support to understand the options available to them, this may be because of individual child's circumstances such as a disability or special educational needs
- need childcare as an emergency/short notice
- are unable to find a free early learning or childcare place for their child.
For brokerage enquiries to find childcare, please complete the enquiry form below
Family Information Service Enquiry Form
Search for the following categories of childcare and activities on Bury Directory:
The Family Learning team will be delivering a Therapeutic Doodle Art mindfulness course at East Bury Family Hub (previously, Redvales Children's Centre).
We are also now recruiting for our next Family First Aid course at Bury Adult Learning Centre.
Further details are available on the course flyers below.
- Therapeutic Doodle Art for parents and carers starting from 14 January.
- Family First Aid for parents and carers starting from 17 January.
To be eligible, learners need to be parents, carers or grandparents of children aged 16 or under.
In order to avoid oversubscription, we would encourage enrolment over the phone via 0161 253 5772 so that places can be secured. This can be done by support workers or family members if parents are not able to do this themselves.
However, for the course running from the East Bury Family Hub, interested parents can simply turn up on the day to enrol with the support of the tutor on their first class.
What do we do?
As well as providing front line services for children and young people, we provide a free telephone service for residents of all ages in Bury who are experiencing difficulties with their emotional wellbeing
What do we offer?
We provide non-clinical, non-urgent support for individuals who are experiencing low level emotional health and well-being difficulties
- Help to access services, or understand how to access services
- Help with low mood, worrying thoughts or a bereavement
- Help with loneliness - help to meet people or to get out and about
- Help to find local social activities e.g. lunch clubs/friendship groups
- Help to find support groups- anxiety, health, mindfulness, physical activity etc
- Access to online tool kits and resources
How do you get in touch?
The service is available Monday to Saturday 10am-7pm by calling 0161 464 3679 or emailing: gettinghelpline@earlybreak.co.uk
Website: Getting Help Line - Early Break - Early Break
Facebook: Early Break- Facebook
Twitter: Early Break- Twitter
A symbol for non-visible disabilities (hdsunflower.com)
Some disabilities, conditions or chronic illnesses are not immediately obvious to others. For some people, this can make it hard to understand and believe that someone, with a “non-visible” condition genuinely needs support. Some people question whether you have a disability because you don’t look ‘like you have a disability".
That is why we created the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower - to encourage inclusivity, acceptance and understanding.
It is a simple tool for you to share that you have a hidden disability voluntarily. Simply by wearing the Sunflower, you’re just letting everyone know that you might need extra help, understanding, or just more time.
The Sunflower - always here to support you
The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower is here every day of the year to support people living with non-visible disabilities in their communities by raising awareness, training businesses and sharing stories to help create a more inclusive, understanding society.
Since its launch in 2016, businesses from every sector have been joining the global Sunflower network - ranging from retail, travel and tourism, transport including over 200 airports - as well as railway networks, coach and bus services and ferries, education (universities, schools and colleges), healthcare, central and local government agencies to football teams, theme parks, theatres and financial institutions.
The Sunflower has now been launched locally in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Latin America, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, the UAE and the USA.
Find out where it is known near you using our Sunflower map
Early Years will be delivering a home safety course for parents with children aged 0-5 from East Bury Family Hub.
The course is two weeks long running on the 13 January 2025 and 20 January 2025 from 9.30am to 10.30am and there is a creche available.
For further information or to book a place please email ccvirtual.session@bury.gov.uk.
The RADAR National Key Scheme (NKS) offers independent access to disabled people to around 7,000 locked public toilets around the country.
The National Key Scheme (NKS), sometimes known as the RADAR Scheme, was developed because some public toilets designed for disabled people had to be locked to prevent damage and misuse resulting in them being locked. The scheme aims to provide disabled key holders with independent access to the toilets provided for them and increase the likelihood of the facilities being in a useable state.
When a Council joins the scheme, standard locks are fitted to their accessible toilets and keys are made available to people with disabilities. Over 400 local authorities in all parts of the country have now adopted the scheme. In addition to public conveniences, toilets for disabled people provided by a wide range of other public, voluntary and commercial organisations have been fitted with the NKS lock. So it can now be found in shopping centres, country parks, railway and bus stations, bars, motorway service areas and sports venues.
Keys are available from Adult Care Connect and Direct for £4 or delivered to your home for £4.50