Leicestershire & Rutland Safer Sex Project

Voluntary Action Charnwood hosts this County-wide project, financed through Teenage Pregnancy funds, which promotes confidential sexual health services for young people in settings in which they feel comfortable.

The project workers offer training to community workers including school nurses, youth workers and Connexions advisors so that they can offer pregnancy testing, safer-sex information, free condoms and clinical referral. Workers are trained to encourage young people to adopt a responsible attitude to relationships, to prepare for safer sex and to present early for pregnancy testing and clinical support. The training equips workers to operate according to national guidelines in sexual health, including confidentiality issues and the Fraser guidelines for working with under 16’s, and all services are given assistance in drafting their own policy and best practice standards.

John Storer House Pregnancy Testing Service

Free and confidential pregnancy testing is offered by the team every week day. For information or to make an appointment please contact Alison on 0781 487 7859.

Photo Courtesy of divacreative

Excerpt from new Services Brochure 2009 - 2010

The Community Safer Sex Project, based upstairs at John Storer House, continues to play a central role in the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, supporting community based sexual health services across the County and Rutland and so helping young people to avoid unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection.

The Project workers, Alison, Jo and Michelle, provide training, professional support and resources to the 400 practitioners who deliver the Project’s 120 young people’s services in Community Colleges, Youth Service settings, Connexions and community housing and residential projects. Our combined services are accessed by well over 10,000 young people each year for condom services, Chlamydia screening and sexual health information and support. These figures clearly show that the community based approach “works” for young people and entirely complements the clinical provision in the area. We are particularly proud that boys and young men, traditionally under represented, account for half of our service users. Whilst the clear focus of our work is the promotion of good sexual health, all practitioners offer support around confidence and self esteem building, a key factor in ensuring safe, healthy and responsible relationships.

We have recently extended our training programme to include specialised sessions around key issues such as the delay of early sex, termination issues, working with “looked after” young people and sex and the law. All practitioners operate according to national sexual health policy and guidelines and the Project supports them to meet the criteria of the “You’re Welcome” Criteria to ensure maximum access by young people . Project staff also train parents and carers to help them talk appropriately and positively to their children about sex and relationships.

Our own daily service here at John Storer House is consistently well used and offers confidential, impartial and free pregnancy testing, condom services and sexual health information and referral.

For more information, or to make an appointment, to see either Alison or Jo, please contact
Alison Reeve on 01509 265197
Call or text on 0781 487 7859 or
alison.reeve@voluntaryactioncharnwood.org.uk