Children and young people

Sunderland City Council commissions a range of services to support the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

• Healthy Start Vouchers and Vitamins  are available for mams and children across the city and those who are registered with the Healthy Start Programme can get them free
• Growing Healthy Sunderland (opens new window) Harrogate and District Foundation Trust provide Public Health Nursing services to all children and families living in the Sunderland area, mainly through Health Visiting and School Nursing. This is a universal and targeted support service commissioned by Public Health through Sunderland City Council (SCC)
• Growing Healthy Sunderland (opens new window) have access to specialist support for breastfeeding mams, offer the Family Nurse Partnership to pregnant young women aged 19 and under (and their partners). There are also specially trained Emotional Resilience Nurses who provide group intervention and 1:1 emotional resilience and mental health wellbeing support for children and young people of school age including bullying, anxiety, low self-esteem. If you need to contact the team for information or support, please use the Single Point of Contact telephone number 03000 031 552 (Open Monday- Friday, 8am until 8pm and Saturday 9am until 12.00noon) or messenger through the Growing Healthy Sunderland Facebook (opens new window) page
• A range of sexual health services are available for young people age 13 years and over
• Sunderland Youth Drug and Alcohol Project (YDAP) (opens new window) is available for young people aged 10-18 who require specialist advice and support relating to drugs or alcohol
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Change 4 Life Sunderland

Supports children, young people (age 18 and under) and their families with small lifestyle changes that can make a big difference to overall health and wellbeing. You can contact the team directly if you would like support, advice and information about healthy eating and physical activity. The Change 4 Life Programme is FREE. It runs for six weeks and it's packed with fun, interactive healthy lifestyle sessions with something for everyone.

• For the younger ones - games such as dodge ball, rounders, parachute and tag games
• For teens - gym induction, weekly workout and group exercise activities
• For everyone - swimming (if available at the venue) healthy snack making and taste sessions, advice on food groups, portion sizes, hidden sugars and fats, breakfasts, eating out and much more.

Find out more through the Change 4 Life Sunderland (opens new window) Facebook page. The Change 4 Life Sunderland team use the resources from the national Public Health Change 4 Life (opens new window) programme.

If you would like further information, you may find the links below useful:

Together for Children (opens new window) delivers services for children and families in Sunderland.

Sex and young people at NHS Choices (opens new window) has information about sex and relationships.

Healthy eating for teens at NHS Choices (opens new window) tells you why a healthy, balanced diet is great for your health.

Smoking when you're a teen at NHS Choices (opens new window) gives you an under-18's guide to the dangers of smoking, and how to quit.

Physical activity for young people at NHS Choices (opens new window) explains how much physical activity you need to do to stay healthy.

Teenage pregnancy at NHS Choices (opens new window) has advice of what support is available and what your options and next steps are.

Public Health England School Zone (opens new window) includes flexible teaching resources for primary and secondary schools.

Child Health Profile (opens new window) gives an overview of child health.

The Local Offer (opens new window) supports children and young people (ages 0 to 25) with SEN and disabilities to feel included within their communities and to be independent.