HARPENDEN CHILD CONTACT CENTRE         More about us:
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HARPENDEN CHILD CONTACT CENTRE: The Harpenden Child Contact Centre (HCCC) is run in the same way as many other Child Contact Centres around the UK and we are an accredited member of the National Association of Child Contact Centres (NACCC). Click on 'About Child Contact Centres' above for general information about these centres. We provide SUPPORTED child contact (rather than SUPERVISED child contact) which means we only take referrals for families that do not present a risk to other families, to our volunteers or to the child. We also enforce a few simple rules at the Centre to ensure safety and a happy environment for the visiting families and for our volunteers. A 'Parenting Leaflet' explains about the Centre and is provided free to all visiting families prior to their first appointment, and further copies are available in the Centre or you can download a copy here (pdf file 240K, two pages. Print, place back to back and two folds to recreate leaflet).     HCCC Parenting Leaflet, click here to download.
The idea of the HCCC grew out of a Church of England initiative in the St Albans' Diocese called 'Vision for Action' which the St Nicholas' parish in Harpenden adopted as part of expanded outreach to the community. Although the Centre is located in All Saints' Church Hall (All Saints' is within the St Nicholas' Parish) and is staffed by many church members, it is in fact independent financially and by organisation from the church, although the parish does encourage it and takes an interest in its progress. Indeed St Albans Diocese has taken an interest and made a 'Vision for Action' award to us in February 2007 commending the work to setup the HCCC. HCCC is a registered charity (No: 1116363) and an accredited member of the National Asociation of Child Contact Centres (NACCC).
All staff are volunteers who are led by a Management Committee (including the trustees of the charity) who deal with the families and referrers. The main contact for families is the HCCC Co-ordinator. Families visiting the Centre do so without cost, except for any purchase of refreshments that they make during their visits. Many volunteers have come forward, but we are always happy to add to their number, and they will be given CRB police checks and be trained under the guidelines of the NACCC. Click on the Links above and below for more pages of information.

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