Our Journey

We started as a small in person support network in Newton Abbot.

We are now a free online resource for parents and carers in the South West Peninsula and far beyond.

We support parents to help their young people thrive!

Let’s Talk about creating safer communities

Becca Hewitt. Chair of the board

It is an increasingly complex world and parenting can be really tricky, Let’s Talk helps build on communication and support between children and young people and their families to help keep them safe.

Our mission

Our mission is to equip parents and carers with the knowledge and techniques to support their young people and to identify when they need the support of specialist services and how to access that support.

You will also find links to further sources of support and information if you have concerns.

Let’s Talk Values

Parents are part of the solution

We see delivery by agencies in response to risk which does not engage families in resolving the concerns. We believe we are more likely to get sustained outcomes when parents and carers are informed of the risk and feel empowered to make a difference.

Support not judgement

So many times we hear the question “What are the parents doing about it?”. We believe in order for parents and carers to do something they need to, not only have an understanding of the issues and implications, but also be guided in how they can “do something about it”. We want to work with parents as equals.

Every parent wants their children and young people to thrive

We believe that parenting can be really challenging and that caring for a child or young person can be massively impacted by parents and carers own experience of trauma, shame and the complexities of modern life including poverty, abuse and health challenges. We also believe that every parent and carer wants the best for their children and young people but they may not, at that time, have the knowledge, skills or capacity to be able to offer as much support and guidance as other may feel they should.

Making changes at the earliest possible opportunity

The best chance of achieving positive sustainable outcomes is by establishing good communication, trust and healthy behaviours as early as possible for both the parents and the children and young people.

Recognise appropriate risk

Children and young people learn from taking risks and learning from their experiences, this programme aims to give parents and carers the confidence to understand when risks become concerning and when to get advice for help, rather than encouraging parent and carers to shield their children and young people from experiences.

Increasing awareness and empowering communities

This programme covers topics that can be very scary to parents and carers so it is essential that we make every effort to ensure that information is shared in a way that provides information to increase awareness and empower people to be able to address the concerns rather than just create a culture of fear and helplessness

Reinforcement of core values – love and communication

The programme is made up of different sessions targeted at different ages and covering different topics, we ensure that keeping communication and love at the heart of families is reinforced through all of our messaging.

Our Partners

Children and Young people are growing up in a continually changing culture which requires high levels of confidence for children and young people to be able to challenge the norms set by that culture which are often not understood by parents due to the significant culture change between generations with digital media now a massive part of children and young people’s daily lives.

We aim to provide solutions with an emphasis on tips and techniques for parents to help support and communicate with their young person. Whilst we make it clear that some of the ‘flags’ we share in relation to risk can also be signs of normal teenage development that if there is rapid change or a number of flags are seen that the parents may want to go to seek further support, so links are provided to trusted sources of specialist support.

Covering all community safety for our youth

Our downloadable toolkits

Toolkit Download

Let’s Talk Pre-Teens

This toolkit provides insight into the issues affecting our 9 to 12 year old children and offers practical ways to support them.