Finding Support Over the Holidays

November 11, 2024

CLAPA will be ‘closed’ while our team take a break over the festive period from 5 pm on Monday 23rd December to 9 am Thursday 2nd January 2025.

We won’t be answering calls or checking emails during this time, but we’ll be happy to help as soon as we return in the New Year.

CLAPA’s services will close on Friday 20 December at 2pm and re-open on Monday 6 January at 9am. The reason we have decided to pause our services is to ensure that our staff and volunteers are able to have a proper break over the Christmas period. This means that our Peer & Parent Support, Counselling, Cleft++, CLAPA Companions, etc., will be paused during this period.

Everyone that is accessing these services currently has been notified. The CLAPA Team would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy holiday and we will pick up any messages received during this period as a priority, from Monday 6th January.

Find Support

We recognise that the holidays can be a difficult time for many people. We’ve listed some different ways you can find support below. We encourage you to reach out at any time if you need help or advice, including our own services, even though we may not be able to get back to you immediately.

One-to-one Support

You are welcome to make a request for one-to-one Parent and Peer Support, but these will not be processed until 2nd January at the earliest.

Facebook Groups

You can find support from others in the cleft community through our Facebook Groups. These are closed groups (so no one outside the group can see you’ve joined or what you post), so an admin needs to approve you before you can join.

Over the holidays, these groups are moderated by our wonderful volunteer admins, so this may take a little longer than usual. Please remember that any information or advice you receive from these groups should never replace the information and advice from your Cleft Team.

Helplines

If you need urgent emotional and/or mental health support, the NHS has a list of mental health helplines that are ready to take your call at any time.

You can also contact:

Mind: emergency and general mental health advice and support, helpline, further resources
Samaritans: emergency helpline, email support, mental health app

You can also make a call on behalf of someone else if you’re concerned.

Safeguarding

Please note that there will be no Safeguarding cover at CLAPA from end of day on 23rd December until 2nd January 2024.

If you need urgent support, please contact emergency services:

NHS Emergency Services
NHS Urgent Mental Health Support
Children and adults at risk: using a search engine, type in the name of your local Council followed by ‘multi-agency safeguarding hub’ or ‘MASH’

Medical Advice

Your Cleft Team is always the best place to go if you have specific questions or concerns about issues related to your or your child’s cleft.

In an emergency, call an ambulance on 999, or go directly to A&E.

General Information about Cleft

If you can’t find answers on our information pages, we recommend you speak directly to your Cleft Team.

You could also ask on our Facebook Groups to see if anyone has had similar experiences. However, please note that everyone’s situation is different and that what is true for one person may not be the case for another. Information from CLAPA or from online groups should never replace the tailored medical advice from your Cleft Team.

Feeding Equipment

You must order your feeding equipment by midday on Thursday 19th December to ensure it will be posted before January.

You may order feeding equipment as usual through our shop, but no orders will be dispatched until Thursday 2nd January. There is often a large backlog at this time, so your order may take a little longer to be processed and sent out.

If you need a Welcome Pack, you can complete this order form. Welcome Packs will be dispatched as a priority when we come back from the holidays.

If you need extra feeding equipment over the holidays, please talk to your Cleft Team to see if they can provide you with bottles and teats. Most teams will have an emergency stock for situations like this.

If another parent offers you spare or used feeding equipment, please note you should never use second-hand teats, even if they have been thoroughly sterilised.