Venue details
Address (not for correspondence):
74 Pedders Lane, Ashton on Ribble,
Preston, Lancashire, PR2 1HN
Opening hours
Days & Times: Monday to Friday - 9am - 7.30pm Saturday & Sunday - 10am - 5pm
Centre charges
Details available on request
Services available here
Supported family time
Supervised family time
Handover
Accepts self referrals
Enhanced Accredited
Virtual family time (Supported)
Virtual family time (Supervised)
Description
Oak House is a family contact centre located in Preston, Lancashire. It is staffed by experienced family support workers and provides a welcoming and safe environment for family contacts. The centre has a stand alone playroom equipped with toys and resources for all ages. It has its own kitchen and bathroom facilities along with a designated waiting area and an enclosed, and safe, garden area. Outdoor toys are also provided. We are a fully accessible centre with CCTV installed throughout. We offer fully supervised sessions with a detailed report given at the end of each session which can be distributed to all parties involved. We welcome pre contact visits in order to ensure all needs are met and to give the children chance to see where they will be coming. We welcome all questions and aim to deliver a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Once relationships are established and we become aware of a child's interests, we will try our best to provide individualised resources to promote positive sessions and make children feel more comfortable. All staff have a variety of training and experience which allows them to provide appropriate advice to parents and uphold our safeguarding policies at all times. In addition they are First Aid and fire marshal trained and DBS cleared. It is our aim to ensure all children are afforded a positive experience with the opportunity to build positive memories with their parents and wider family.
Notes from this centre
Unable to accept individuals with a history of arson, sexual offences and convictions for significant violent offences. Acceptance to the contact centre will be dependant on completion of risk assessment.
This centre is accredited to provide supervised contact
Accreditation is a way of checking that your contact centre is safe and meets our standards.
How is a centre checked?
An assessorSomeone working on our behalf who has experience and an interest in child contact services and must assess if a service meets our standards. looks round the centre’s rooms, toys, equipment, and any outside play areas to make sure that they are safe and good for you to use. They talk with the people at the centre to make sure that they are trained and helped to do their job as well as possible. They then check the informationThe assessor checks through the centre’s accreditation portfolio which includes policies, procedures, risk assessments, reports (if the service offers supervised contact) and information for families. on what happens at the centre and how it keeps you safe. If your family time happens in the community The service might use local community venues to deliver their service or in some cases, residential properties including family members’ homes, where this is safe and appropriate., then the assessor will check that this is going to be safe for you.
When the assessor is happy that a centre meets our standards then they are awarded their accreditation and you can find them on this website. Accreditation happens every three years with extra checks if needed.
Accreditation Summary
Date: 02/05/2025
Summary:
Oak House Family Residential Centre is a new service run as part of New Springs Family Care, which also offers residential parenting assessments and is Ofsted regulated. The organisation has previously run a child contact centre but ceased to operate it during 2024 in order for them to concentrate of the residential side of the business. They are now able to reopen with experienced managers and staff in place. Oak House is a 5 bedroomed semi-detached house in the Ashton on Ribble area of Preston, close to bus stops with frequent buses to Preston city centre.
The contact centre has its own entrance through a side gate and via the garden. There is one large bright room which has comfortable settees and a range of toys and equipment to suit all ages. There is also a kitchen, toilet (including nappy changing table) and small waiting room.
The centre has leaflets available with a range of information included on this for the children and families that may use the centre. This information helps them to anticipate everything from making a referral to the appropriate steps to take if they are unhappy or feel unsafe.
Any recommended actions following the visit are now complete meaning the service meets the standards for enhanced (supervised) family time accreditation.
Photos from this centre
