Keep your children busy by logging on to family site
Residents looking to keep their children busy over the summer are being urged to log on to a special website designed for families in Buckinghamshire.
The Buckinghamshire Family Information Service, run by the County Council, currently has more than 700 activities and events listed for this year’s summer holidays.
The site, which can be found at www.bucksfamilyinfo.org, has been averaging almost 23,000 users per month.
It is free to access and offers impartial information, support and advice for the public. It has more than 400 pages giving comprehensive details of children’s centres, childcare, events and activities. The site hosts the Buckinghamshire Local Offer for children with special educational needs and disabilities (www.bucksfamilyinfo.org/localoffer) and there is a new ‘Youth Space’ section for young people (www.bucksfamilyinfo.org/youth).
The site has recently undergone a revamp so it can work more efficiently on mobile phones and tablets.
This week, staff met with Zahir Mohammed, County Council Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, to give him a progress update.
“I would definitely encourage parents to log on to the website and make use of the information that is available on it,” said Cllr Mohammed. “It’s a very good site – very user friendly, with relevant information that parents will find useful. We get a huge number of hits on it which is very encouraging indicating that it does provide families with valuable sought-after information.”
The site is run by a team of dedicated officers who work closely with services to collate a wide range of material which is shared through the website and on social media.
Programme Manager Anna Ellis said: “Although the site does attract many users, a lot of people still don’t know about us, which is a real pity because there is so much information and advice on the site that can help families. For instance, we are the only comprehensive source of Ofsted-registered childcare in Bucks.
“If you haven’t already seen this website and you have children, please take a couple of minutes to log on and take a look. You may be pleasantly surprised.”
The Buckinghamshire Family Information Service supports families with children aged 0-19 (or 25 if they have a disability) and professionals, and can be contacted in the following ways:
Phone: 0845 688 4944 or 01296 383065. Calls to the 0845 numbers cost a 7p per minute service charge plus your telephone company’s network access charge.
Email: familyinfo@buckscc.gov.uk
Social Media: Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Buckinghamshire.Family.Information.Service – and Twitter @Bucks_FIS
In Person: at County Hall (Walton Street, Aylesbury, HP20 1UZ)