Seasons for Growth was introduced to the Shrewsbury Diocesan area by Ged Flynn, Director of the Catholic Children’s Society, in 2005. Initially, Companions were trained to deliver the programme in the schools in Halton borough. In April 2007, a successful bid for Children in Need funding was secured, enabling Ged to establish a school-based model for training and delivery, which has seen the process embedded into 45 schools in the Halton, Wirral, Shropshire and Stockport areas.
Since March 2009, Leanne Jones and Barry Lyonette were the trainers in the area. They delivered Seasons for Growth training to a wide area of the North West up until the summer of 2014.
The process that has been put in place is designed to ensure that as many Companions as possible not only implement their first programme as soon as practically possible after training, but also that they continue to plan for programme delivery on an annual basis. Only in this way do we feel that children and young people in the area can get the help and support when they really need it.