Referrals
Referrals
We welcome referrals from schools, parents, carers, GPs, charity partners and social care services.
Who we support
We support children aged 6 to 13 who are struggling with their mental health and emotional wellbeing. Many find school overwhelming, or are experiencing anxiety, low self-esteem, burnout, or the impact of trauma, or difficult family circumstances.
We welcome children who are neurodivergent, undiagnosed or awaiting assessment, including autistic children, children with ADHD or AuDHD, and children with learning differences such as dyslexia, where we can meet their needs.
How we work
Children join a small group of six or nine, one day a week (5.5 hours), with one adult for every three children. Our approach is relational and trauma-informed. We help children build trust and strong connections with each other and with the adults around them, because belonging is where healing begins.
We intentionally do not offer one-to-one support. Children grow in confidence, self-awareness and resilience through connection and collaboration with their peers, so the group is at the heart of what we do.
Is Huckleberries right for your child?
Huckleberries offers emotional wellbeing support, rather than special educational needs (SEN) provision. We know what we are good at, and we focus on doing that well for every child we support. If a child needs one-to-one support or a specialist SEN setting, we may not be the right fit, and we will always try to point you towards services that can help.
How to refer
- Complete our referral form. Where your child is on a school roll, this needs to be done in collaboration with your childs school.
- We review each referral carefully. Where we feel we can meet the child’s needs, we will invite them to a group visit, with their parent or carer.
- If following the visit, we feel they will thrive at Huckleberries and we can meet their needs, they will join our waitpool.
- When a place becomes available, we offer it to the child who will best fit that group. Where a child is on a school roll, we agree the placement with their school before they start. We will provide them with due diligence documentation and invite them to visit.
Our waiting list
We usually have a waiting list. Rather than offering places in date order, we use a wait pool, so that each child joins a group where they are most likely to feel safe, settle and thrive. This means we cannot always say how long the wait will be, but you are always welcome to contact us for an update.
Funding
At least 70% of our places are free, for children who have no other support in place.
Schools and the Local Authority can also commission a small number of places for children with an EHCP or EOTAS package, where we can meet their needs. Please contact us for rates.
Contact us
If you have any questions, or would like to talk through whether Huckleberries is right for your child, we would love to hear from you: info@huckleberries.org.uk
