There is an excitement in the air at THA right now.Those of our members who attended the recent local meeting in London, were given a glimpse of our plans.We are embarking on two reviews this summer. One is the review of our membership scheme looking at the benefits provided by the scheme and subscription rates. The other big buzz is about the reviews of the generic THA Quality Standard and the more specific Parent Know How Quality Standard. The reviews will undertake a forensic examination of every aspect of the current Standard and rebuild a set of Standards which are future proof to meet your needs not only today but for years to come. I hope you find a few minutes to complete the questionnaire which you will receive shortly launching the reviews.
I look forward to hearing your views on how we can improve the Quality Standard. In the meantime enjoy the summer and stay safe.
Yours sincerely
Rekha Wadhwani Chief Executive
Vetting and Barring Scheme to be scaled back The Vetting and Barring Scheme, the scheme that was to have required those working with children and vulnerable adults to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority, has been put on hold by the new Home Secretary, Theresa May. The Scheme was to have begun rolling out across England, Wales and Northern Ireland next month.
The Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme in Scotland is operated by the devolved government, not Westminster, and they have confirmed they have no plans to change the forthcoming PVG Scheme. The Republic of Ireland has a system of Garda checks for those working with children or those who are 'mentally impaired'.
The Helplines Association will be featuring Vetting and Barring/Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups in our Network Meetings in the autumn. The meetings will be free to attend for members - non-members will be charged a £45 cover charge.
Look out for dates and locations in future editions of Digital Exchange and THA's Members News. In the meantime, we will keep you updated of any more announcements.
The Guardian Public Services Awards Closing date 16 July 2011 The Guardian Public Services Awards showcase innovation and best practice across all forms of public service: national and local government, the NHS, the voluntary/community sector and beyond.The awards are open to private, voluntary and community bodies as well as public sector organisations. With the current emphasis on belt-tightening and best value, the Awards aim to demonstrate that innovation and sharing of best practice will wring the best value from the taxpayer pound.
Telephone, email, SMS and internet helplines deliver excellent value public services, and can be delivered by voluntary, statutory, commercial and social enterprise agencies. Our Chief Executive, Rekha Wadhwani, will be bringing THA's expertise on all these helplines to the judging panel of the Public Service Awards.
How to enter The team awards are in two main sections: service delivery, and innovation and progress. Within each section there are a number of different categories. There is also a special award for citizenship and volunteering - this is open to commercial sector agencies. Finally, there is also the award for Public Servant of the Year.
Please remember to pay your THA membership renewal Look at all these great benefits you'll miss out on... We are currentlys ending out final reminders to all our members who have not yet paid their membership renewal fee for this year. You might not realise it, if you are a reader of Digital Exchange, that doesn't automatically mean your helpline is a THA member. THA members can enjoy a range of benefits, including:
25% discounts on all THA training courses, including on-site courses
Exemption from annual service charge (equivalent to £350) from telephone interpreting service Language Line and specially negotiated rates
Free or low cost 0845 phone numbers via one of our suppliers £250 discount on set-up costs from helpline management software iCarol
Waiver on standard subscription fees for the 'Start-right' programme from iCarol - for helplines which have been set up for less than one year
Discounts on THA publications such as the THA Quality Standard Discount on Quality Standard assessment
Discount on Consultancy & Evaluation services
Free invites to THA events around the country (non-members must pay to attend)
Access to support from THA staff on the THA freephone members helpline.
Full members of THA also get to use the 'Member of the THA' logo to identify that your helpline has met our good practice criteria. And Full members also get access to our range of mobile friendly freephone numbers. If your helpline has one of these numbers it is crucial that you remain a THA member in order to retain the benefits of the 'free from most mobiles' scheme.
If you haven't already, you should have received your final reminder in the last few days. Please ensure you pay promptly so THA can carry on providing support to you and other helplines across the UK and Ireland.
If you have any questions about THA membership, please call Valerie Honore on 020 7089 6326 or email Valerie at valerie.honore@helplines.org.uk.
Learning the 'Why' as well as the 'What' Your first priority as a helpline worker or manager will probably be to ensure that your staff, volunteers, or you yourself, have the skills to carry out helpline work. So you might book yourself or your colleagues on our 'Essential Telephone Skills' course. However, it's also vitally important that your people have the underpinning knowledge and understanding of why they are using these skills. Do your staff know:
What is unique about helpline work and why particular techniques work better than others
How your helpline's approach compares with the range of differing approaches in the helpline sector as a whole?
the difference between their own personal issues and boundaries, and those of your helpline?
Sometimes just learning the skills isn't enough. That's why we introduced 'Essential Helpline Boundaries' - the perfect companion course to our 'Essential Telephone Skills', 'Essential Written Skills' and 'Responding to Emotional Content' courses.
This course is also ideal for anyone who is setting up a helpline, reviewing an existing helpline, or preparing for THA Quality Standard accreditation. A recent delegate told us:
'I've been alerted to new areas of developing legislation. I've come away with creative and guided ideas on service development.'
For a limited time only, we have a special offer on this course - book places on three of our other courses and you can book a free place on the Essential Boundaries course. Visit our website for more information and to book.
Revising THA's Quality Standard As Rekha said in her message above, THA is now embarking on a total review of our Quality Standard. If you are a THA member you should have received an email otoday (Friday) from Mark McLean inviting you to contribute to the review.
The Quality Standard is the only Standard specifically for all telephone helplines. It was devised in collaboration with THA members and now we will be revising it with your help, to ensure it remains relevant to today's email, internet and SMS helplines. Look out for a questionnaire from Mark and if you have any questions, call Mark on 0151 641 9746 or email him at mark.mclean@helplines.org.uk.
Helplines in the news
Gingerbread's freephone helpline reached more than 25,000 single parents last year THA members Gingerbread launched their new 'mobile-friendly' THA SFT number in October 2009. This week they announced that they reached more than 25,000 single parents in England and Wales in the last year. Gingerbread's Single Parent Helpline is free to call from most mobile phones and is accredited to THA's Parent-know how Quality Standard. The Single Parent Helpline is open 9-5 every weekday, and until 8pm on Wednesdays, on 0808 802 0925. Read more about Gingerbread's milestone here. Find out about getting a mobile-friendly freephone number from THA.
How the recession and the World Cup is affecting calls to domestic violence helplines
Women's Aid in the Republic of Ireland, open every day from 10am to 10pm on 1800 341 900, is 'under severe pressure' because of funding cuts, according to IrishHealth.com. Director Margaret Martin, explained that the recession makes it harder for women to escape violence in the home, and, worryingly, callers are reporting that perpatrators are blaming the recession for their actions. Read more here.
In the UK, local partnerships between domestic violence services and the police are being set up to raise awareness of domestic violence during the World Cup. During the 2006 World Cup, domestic violence incidents rose by 31% on England match days. In Yorkshire, posters saying 'When the match was over, it really kicked off' are going up in pubs. Read more at the Ministry of Justice website, the Yorkshire Post, Craven Herald, Staines News, Ballymoney & Moyne Times and many more local news sites.
On a national level, Womens Aid in England have launched their 'Real Man' campaign to coincide with the World Cup. Read more on the Women's Aid website.
Helplines in Ireland respond to concerns after miscarriage misdiagnoses Helplines set up to respond to concerns after an Irish hospital wrongly diagnosed miscarriages, have received 150 calls in the first day they were open. Read more at RTÉ.
Look out on our website for more news That's it for this month - but don't forget to look out on our website www.helplines.org.uk for more news throughout the month.
Training courses We have a full range of courses for helpline workers and managers coming up all over the UK and Ireland. Here's just a few of them.
New Helpline? Start right with the benefits from iCarol. To encourage best practices learned by many other organisations, helplines that are members of THA and in operation for less than one year qualify to use the acclaimed iCarol software without paying the standard iCarol setup fee. Read how iCarol recently made a big difference for 1Life - a new helpline in Ireland. Request a demo to find out how iCarol can benefit your helpline.
Client contact through phone, texting or web chat Call Handling have just introduced SMS and Web Chat so helpline workers can now interact with helpline users via one user friendly interface. The services are designed for helplines, so offer full reporting. If you already use Call Handling’s Virtual Call Centre the upgrade couldn’t be simpler. For more details contact Sam or Richard on 0333 321 0888. http://www.callhandling.co.uk/Videos/THA%20VIDEO.htm">Watch a video about some of Call Handling's services here. Discounts for THA members.
Meeting room for hire, central London Special rates for THA members
Classroom, cabaret, u-shape, theatre and boardroom style layouts - capacity 16-25 people. Plenty of natural light, air conditioning and double-glazing. The building, meeting room and toilets are wheelchair-accessible. Costs from £60 + VAT per 1/2 day for THA members. Contact Andy Senft on 020 7089 6324 or email andy.senft@helplines.org.uk.
Flexible office space for rent, central London THA can offer fully-serviced office space at special rates for THA members. Anything from a single workstation to an entire suite. The office is based in London SE1, and is fully accessible. For more information contact Andy Senft on 020 7089 6324 or email andy.senft@helplines.org.uk.
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Classroom, cabaret, u-shape, theatre and boardroom style layouts - capacity 16-25 people. Plenty of natural light, air conditioning and double-glazing. The building, meeting room and toilets are wheelchair-accessible. Costs from £60 + VAT per 1/2 day for THA members.