Let's Talk "Preparation for Adulthood" at The Willows School in Thurcroft
Through networking over the last couple of years, we were able to signpost the school to some services that provide our Rotherham people with some excellent support and information.
On Thursday 19th June 2025, we helped with the hosting of a full day event for the Young People at The Willows School on “Preparing for Adulthood.”
Having built up a great network of colleagues from across the borough, we were able to link Willows school with a range of support services that aim to provide people with information and knowledge on different topics such as looking after your wellbeing, looking after your own personal care, sexual health and relationships and more.
Services that were invited to be part of the “Preparation for Adulthood” day were:
Mesmac
The Rainbow Project
Kooth and Qwell
Rush House
Oral Health
RANSS
South Yorkshire Police
Survive, Strive, Thrive - A victim’s story
Talking Therapies - RDASH
Mesmac:
Mesmac is a support service in Rotherham that provides information, sexual health screening, contraception advice, free condoms and period products, pregnancy testing and sexual health and wellbeing support. Mesmac was able to bring along lots of information about sexual health and answered questions from the young people about preparing for adulthood and relationships. https://www.mesmac.co.uk/our-services/rotherham
The Rainbow Project:
Tony and Claire delivered a workshop and provided information about all the support that is offered by The Rainbow Project in Rotherham. They are able to provide individual and group support schemes for LGBTQ+ people. The support can be offered by telephone, video call, messenger and text (national) as well as in-person meetings (South Yorkshire) to suit the communities needs. They also have a full calendar of weekly events on offer from Floral Art to Mindfulness sessions.
https://www.therainbowprojectrotherham.com/
Kooth:
David from Kooth gave an information session on the “Kooth” service that is an online digital service that supports Young People’s mental health. Kooth is the UK’s largest and longest established digital mental health service. They partner with the NHS and local authority organisations to deliver game-changing mental health support to young people from age 10 and up.
Rush House:
The charity organisation Rush house came and provided information on how they support young people in the Rotherham area. They provide a range of accommodation and support services including advice, independent living skills and training to young people aged 16-25. They also offer a person centered Education, Employment and Training programme for people aged 16+
Oral Health - Rotherham Children's Public Health Nursing Service-Family Health Division
Leiann came and delivered a practical information session and workshop on the importance of good oral hygiene. She was able to provide free oral health products to some young people that wanted this. There were lots of gasps heard as the young people realised how many teaspoons of sugar there was in their favourite drink!
Healthwatch Rotherham:
We provided an information and practical workshop on personal hygiene. The young people were given information on the importance of hygiene and cleanliness, the impacts of not keeping clean and health implications, how often our clothes need washing, why we use certain cleaning products to help keep ourselves clean and we carried out a science experiment to show how germs behave when faced with a soap or gel.
https://healthwatchrotherham.org.uk/
Survive, Strive, Thrive - A victim’s story:
The young people had the pleasure of hearing Roger’s story. Roger is a survivor of a serious attack and attempt on his life. He lives with physical health implications since the attack but uses his story to talk about crime, the dangers of becoming involved in crime and promotes resilience, and confidence in young people. The students found his real-life story fascinating and emotional.
https://survivestrivethrive.co.uk/
Thank you to The Willows School for allowing us to support the event and also be part of it on the day. The young people at Willows were really engaged, polite and interested in what our local services can offer to support the people of Rotherham. We hope to see you again very soon.
