The Birches Children’s Home is located in Southport and accommodates up to five young people of either gender. The young people will usually be aged between eleven and seventeen, although there will be some flexibility in this age range to take account of the individual’s developmental stage and cognitive functioning. The maximum age upon admission would be no older than sixteen years of age.

The purpose of the Home is to provide a therapeutically managed facility to meet the nurturing, management, social, emotional and moral needs of young people who are unable to live in a family context.

It is envisaged that the young people will live in the Home for at least two years; this is necessary in order to undertake therapeutic work to help the young person develop a sense of personal security and identify with consequent emotional and social development.

The Home caters for young people who are experiencing a range of difficulties including:

• Complex Learning Difficulties
• Language and Communication Problems
• Autism
• Challenging Behaviour
• Dyspraxia
• Attachment Disorders
• Attentional Deficits

Education

Most of the young people living at The Birches will be educated at Pontville School & College in Ormskirk. Staff from the Home work very closely with education based staff in order to provide an integrated package of education and care.

This school and college has been assessed by Ofsted as providing "Outstanding" education and provides a wide range of nationally accredited courses including GCSE, NVQ and Entry Awards.

Accommodation

The Birches is a large detached property, in close proximity to Southport town centre, which provides a high quality group living experience . The ground floor of the house consists of two large and comfortably furnished living rooms, a dining area, a good-sized kitchen and a bedroom that has en-suite facilities. On the first floor there are four other bedrooms, two of which have en-suite facilities, and a family bathroom. The second floor is a staff area, consisting of sleeping-in room and a staff work room.

To the rear of the property is an enclosed courtyard, the front of the property is flagged and has border with mature shrubs and bushes and provides parking for several vehicles.

All young people living at The Birches have individual bedrooms, and are encouraged to personalise their rooms to ensure opportunities to feel secure and comfortable are maximised.

The Birches also has a basement flat which has been developed to create living accommodation for one young person, this has been designed to provide opportunities for semi-independent living where the emphasis is placed upon living with reduced support to prepare young people for leaving care as well as enabling a positive transition from living in a group environment to living independently/living away from The Birches.

The basement flat consists of a kitchen, dining area, living room, large bedroom and bathroom. Any young person who lives in the basement flat has an individual plan that identifies the level of support is required to ensure that they continue to live in a safe and well maintained environment, whilst giving them opportunities to develop their independent living and social skills.

Whilst there is a pre-arranged support package for the young person, staff from The Birches are also available if any difficulties or emergencies should arise.

Activities

All of the young people are given opportunities to access a wide range of leisure and social facilities in either a supported, semi-independent or independent manner. Within the locality there are a variety of facilities that the young people access and enjoy; shops, parks, fairground, beach and cinema in addition to activities that offer a more structured programme of events; sporting clubs, swimming pools and youth groups. The young people are fully involved in deciding which activities take place.