The ARC (Activity Residential Care) Service at New Forest Care provide short term placements for young people experiencing placement breakdowns, young people with emerging complex behaviours that challenge the provision of long term placements, and those at risk from CSE, gangs, at risk in the community or posing a risk to others.
Our first priority is to ensure our young people are kept safe; safe from harm, both physical and emotional and from risk taking behaviours.
We provide a creative and flexible service that will engage most young people; Adventurous activities are physically and mentally challenging and are used to engage and bring about change in young people who are in crisis.
The outdoor activities we provide make use of natural environments to engage young people, present challenges and learning opportunities and allow them to take appropriate risks in a safe and rewarding environment.
We use these environments to create a safe space for young people to explore and reflect on areas of significance within their lives.
We support the young people in understanding that negative behaviours do not define them and that a negative experience can provide learning, we allow our young people to focus on their strengths and positive experiences building positive relationships promoting self-esteem, confidence and resilience.
During the short period of time a young person spends with ARC, our staff team will work with them to develop an individual programme that allows them to try various activities. Where they have an identified interest we will include this in their programme and aim to support them in achieving short qualifications or certificates as far as possible, for instance previous programmes have included horse management, mechanics, art and pottery.
The relationship our team have with our young people is paramount to helping them feel safe and relaxed, so they trust the team to take them out of their comfort zone and conquer new challenges, it is for this reason we do not use agency staff.
