Free sessions to protect your little ones from flu this half term

The free flu vaccine is being offered to children aged two and three – and you can get this at special clinics at some of our Family Hubs in the borough over the October half term holiday.

Family Hubs at Little Harwood, Shadsworth, Darwen and Livesey as well as Highercroft Children’s Centre are offering the clinics, which are a quick and easy way to help protect your child from the Flu this Autumn and Winter.

Most of the sessions are running alongside the Hot Meals for 50p offer, and some activities such as Baby Play and Chat, Play, Read are taking place at the same time as well.

Some of the sessions, at Shadsworth and Darwen Family Hubs, are for school aged children and not 2 to 3 year olds – all the information is in the table below.

The clinic sessions welcome drop-ins and no booking is required.

The vaccination for children is very quick and easy – it is given by squirting a single dose of nasal spray up each nostril. The nasal vaccine is being offered to children but an alternative injected vaccine is also available for those who prefer not to use porcine gelatine in medical products.

Dates and times of clinics for 2 and 3 year olds/School aged children:

Location of flu jab clinic	Date and times	Other activities taking place at the centre:
Clinics for ALL eligible groups INCLUDING SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN
Little Harwood Family Hub	Monday 23rd October: 1.30-6pm	11.30am-1pm: Hot meals for 50p 1.30-3pm: Children’s crafts (0-8 years)
Darwen Family Hub	Friday 27th October: 10am – 4pm	10-11am: Craft activities (0-8 years)
Clinics for SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN ONLY
Shadsworth Family Hub	Monday 23rd October: 9.30am – 3.30pm (SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN ONLY)	9.30-11am: Children’s crafts (0-8 years) 11.30am-1pm: Hot meals for 50p
Clinics for eligible groups EXCLUDING SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN
Little Harwood Family Hub	Tuesday 24th October: 9am – 6pm	9.30-11am: Children’s crafts (0-8 years) 11.30am-1pm: Hot meals for 50p 1.30-2.30pm: Chat, Play, Read (0-5 years)
	Friday 27th October: 9am – 6pm	1-2pm: Children’s crafts (0-8 years)
Higher Croft Children’s Centre	Thursday 26th October: 9am – 4pm	Community Café open: 9am – 3pm 10-11am: Children’s crafts (0-8 years) 2-3pm: Children’s crafts (0-8 years)
Livesey Family Hub	Friday 27th October: 9am – 4pm	9.30-11am: Children’s crafts (0-8 years) 11.30am-1pm: Hot meals for 50p 1.30-3pm: Children’s crafts (0-8 years)

 

Flu can be a serious illness, especially for babies, small children and older and more vulnerable people. Having the flu vaccine can help protect a larger number of children and help provide protection to loved ones, friends, family, and the wider population from the flu virus.

Councillor Damian Talbot, Executive Member for Public Health, Prevention and Wellbeing, said:

Autumn is now here and coughs, colds and viruses are already starting to circulate, so this usually means Flu season can’t be far behind.

Children aged two, three and four are more vulnerable if they catch Flu and can be hit very hard by it. In addition, they can spread infections more easily than adults. If they’re around family members of friends that are over 65 or who have a health condition, they’re putting them at risk too.

Please pop down to one of these sessions at our Family Hubs if you can, it is a really quick and easy way to protect your young child. Some of the sessions are open to school age children as well if you want to vaccinate your children at half term. There are also some activities for you and your child or children, as well as the Hot Meals for 50p offer if you need this.”

Dr Ridwaan Ahmed, a GP at Brownhill Surgery in Blackburn, said:

It’s great that we have many families in the borough who take the time to vaccinate themselves and their children against flu. We’ve heard from some of our families that they can struggle to attend clinics at their GP surgery, so this approach by our GP teams and family hubs will hopefully make accessing the vaccinations easier for them.

These sessions at our new family hubs are not only a really great opportunity to once again protect your child, and yourself, from what can be a really serious and sometimes fatal virus but to also enjoy the activities and meal deal on offer. So please, take your child along to one of our sessions and if you, or any grandparents or carers are in one of our eligible groups, then the team can also vaccinate you at the same time.”