About Us
The Chichester Child Contact Centre provides contact in a safe and neutral environment for children and their non-resident parent and wider family network.
Contact sessions take place every other week on a Saturday.
The centre is located at the Christ Church Methodist Church.
What is a Child Contact Centre?
The Chichester Child Contact Centre offers supported contact sessions and handover sessions. The service we provide is confidential, non-judgemental and inclusive to all families who need us.
The contact centre benefits from:
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A large open hall space where families have a designated table space.
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A selection of toys, games and activities for children aged 0 -18 years old.
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A separate entrance door for resident and non-resident families.
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A snack shop which sells coffee, teas, squash and a variety of snacks.
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A quiet confidential space for pre-contact sessions.
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A location in the heart of Chichester close to facilities and amenities.
While the contact centre is not time limited, it aims to provide short term support to enable families to move on into the community and make their own contact arrangements in the future.
We complete reviews at 3, 6 and 12 sessions to discuss next steps and support families to move on.
Our Accreditation
NACCC’s member Child Contact Centre have an endorsed accreditation process which shows that all NACCC Child Contact Centres work to agreed and approved national standards. This ensures that families using the Child Contact Centres are safe and well cared for.
For more information about NACCC along with helpful support and advice please visit www.naccc.org.uk
What we do, What we do not do
What volunteers WILL do
We put the needs of the child first. We keep all personal information confidential within the Centre* (we are obliged to pass on statistical information to certain interested parties, but there is no way these details can be used to identify a specific family).
We are required to register the time of arrival and departure of all parents (including the times of departure and arrival back at the Centre if you are able to take your child out of the Centre during a contact session).
We will help you with practical details of contact such as informing the other parent if you are ill or otherwise cannot come to a contact centre.
We can pass on messages written down for us to read about anything that affects contact sessions directly, such as holiday dates or medical information or details of changes to diets for small children or babies.
We can help non-resident parents change nappies or even do this ourselves if required. Two volunteers can accompany a young child to the toilet if this is required.
We can ensure that parent does not meet if that is requested by either parent and will stagger the times of arrival and departure of both parents so that they do not need to meet in the immediate vicinity of the Centre.
What volunteers WILL NOT do
We will not take sides.
We do not discuss any matters relating to the break up of a relationship unless it is a direct concern for the welfare of the child during the contact session.
We will not divulge personal information.
We will not write reports on families in contact*.
We will not pass on sealed letters or parcels between parents.
We will not offer legal advice (but we have a collection of pamphlets that you may find useful as they have contact details of some professional agencies concerned with the wellbeing of children).
We will not allow discussions to develop into arguments within the Centre.
*We are required to collect details of times of arrival and departures of families using our Centre and these details may be requested either parent, solicitors or the Family Court.
Please note that we cannot deviate from the terms of any court order relevant to child contact. It is important that we are provided with a copy of all court orders, residential orders and injunctions relating to child contact