Our vision
Our Vision for all children and families in Gateshead regardless of their background are at the heart of everything we do ensuring all children can thrive and meet their full potential. It is informed by the children and young people's plan and the overarching Council 'Thrive Agenda.'
The pledges have been developed as a policy direction to inform how we deliver services and places children and their families at the heart of everything we do.
The leaders of the Council are clear Gateshead will be a place where everyone thrives. If we are to achieve this a radical rethink is needed about the way we work as a Council, the way we spend the money, the way we work with partner organisations and how we work with our local people and communities. We want everyone in Gateshead to be involved in this transformation.
The Council has five pledges to help guide us when we make decisions. This is the start of a new era for Gateshead we have made our pledges for a fairer Gateshead.
- put people and families at the heart of everything we do
- tackle inequality so people have a fair chance
- support our communities to support themselves and each other
- invest in our economy to provide sustainable opportunities for employment, innovation and growth across the borough
- work together and fight for a better future for Gateshead
Our plans for 2024 reflect this vision and ambition. We will have an even greater focus on embedding trauma informed approaches, and inclusive practice, across all of our services as we believe that this delivers the best outcomes for children and young people. We are committed to continuing to develop services which are integrated and joined up through our family hubs and that we maintain our focus on supporting the most vulnerable children on the edge of care to support them to remain safely living within their family networks.
In 2023 we were recognised nationally for the great work we are doing. Our Kinship team won the CYPS award for the team making the biggest impact, our Social Work Academy received a commendation and came second in the CYPS biggest impact award, and one of our NQSW was shortlisted in the best newcomer award.
We also won the Gold award for 'Digital Transformation in Social Work Award' based on the Digital Me films that were made by young people in both the Domestic abuse and Youth justice services. These really are excellent and are a testament to our young people and the teams who work with them and support them.
Plus, two of our foster carers won the CYPS foster carer award supported by their Fostering Social Work Practitioner.
During 2023 we were also successful in bidding for and achieving a number of grants to develop new services for children and young people which includes piloting the new national DFE Family Network pilot; Turnaround funding to support young people at risk of entering the criminal justice system; and the Family Links programme for children in care.