Finding Support Over the Holidays

November 26, 2025

CLAPA will be ‘closed’ while our team take a break over the festive period from 2pm Tuesday 23rd December to 9am Monday 5th January 2026.

We won’t be answering calls or checking emails during this time, but we’ll be happy to help as soon as we return in the New Year.

CLAPA’s Support Services

Most of CLAPA’s support services will close at 2pm on Friday 19th December and re-open on Monday 5th January at 9am.

The reason we have decided to pause our services is to ensure that our staff and volunteers are able to have a proper break over the Christmas period. This means that our Peer & Parent Support, Counselling, Cleft++, CLAPA Companions, etc., will be paused during this period.

Everyone that is accessing these services currently has been notified. The CLAPA Team would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy holiday and we will pick up any messages received during this period as a priority, from Monday 5th January.

Our Feeding Service (special bottles and teats) will stay open until 2pm Tuesday 23rd December; see below for more details.

Find Support

We recognise that the holidays can be a difficult time for many people. We’ve listed some different ways you can find support below. We encourage you to reach out at any time if you need help or advice, including our own services, even though we may not be able to get back to you immediately.

One-to-one Support

You are welcome to make a request for one-to-one Parent and Peer Support, but these will not be processed until 5th January at the earliest.

Facebook Groups

You can find support from others in the cleft community through our Facebook Groups. These are closed groups (so no one outside the group can see you’ve joined or what you post), so an admin needs to approve you before you can join.

Over the holidays, these groups are moderated by our wonderful volunteer admins, so this may take a little longer than usual. Please remember that any information or advice you receive from these groups should never replace the information and advice from your Cleft Team.

Helplines

If you need urgent emotional and/or mental health support, the NHS has a list of mental health helplines that are ready to take your call at any time.

You can also contact:

Mind: emergency and general mental health advice and support, helpline, further resources
Samaritans: emergency helpline, email support, mental health app

You can also make a call on behalf of someone else if you’re concerned.

Safeguarding

Please note that there will be no Safeguarding cover at CLAPA from end of day on 23rd December until 2nd January 2026.

If you need urgent support, please contact emergency services:

NHS Emergency Services
NHS Urgent Mental Health Support
Children and adults at risk: using a search engine, type in the name of your local Council followed by ‘multi-agency safeguarding hub’ or ‘MASH’

Medical Advice

Your Cleft Team is always the best place to go if you have specific questions or concerns about issues related to your or your child’s cleft.

In an emergency, call an ambulance on 999, or go directly to A&E.

General Information about Cleft

If you can’t find answers on our information pages, we recommend you speak directly to your Cleft Team.

You could also ask on our Facebook Groups to see if anyone has had similar experiences. However, please note that everyone’s situation is different and that what is true for one person may not be the case for another. Information from CLAPA or from online groups should never replace the tailored medical advice from your Cleft Team.

Feeding Equipment

You must order your feeding equipment by midday on Thursday 18th December to ensure it will be posted before we close on the 23rd. Note that due to seasonal postal service delays, we cannot guarantee any delivery dates.

You may order feeding equipment as usual through our shop, but no orders will be dispatched until Monday 5th January. There is often a large backlog at this time, so your order may take a little longer to be processed and sent out.

If you want to get extra stock for over the holidays but are having trouble paying, contact your Cleft Nurse. They can request free bottles and teats from CLAPA on your behalf, and we will send them out as soon as we can, no questions asked.

Our returns period for unused feeding equipment is now 90 days, so if you order extra feeding equipment which it turns out you don’t need, you can return them to us for a refund or exchange.

Welcome Packs

If you need a Welcome Pack over the holidays, you can complete this order form. Welcome Packs will be dispatched as a priority when we come back from the holidays.

CLAPA does not usually send out Welcome Packs to families whose babies have not yet been born. However, we do not want to leave families without essential equipment over the holidays. If your due date is 18th December – 10th January, you can request your Welcome Pack by midday on Thursday 18th December and we will send it out in advance.

If it turns out that your baby needs different feeding equipment after they have their feeding assessment, you can return the unused bottles and teats and we will happily send you replacements in January.

Getting extra feeding equipment over the holidays

If you need extra feeding equipment while CLAPA is closed, please talk to your Cleft Team to see if they can provide you with bottles and teats. Most teams will have an emergency stock for situations like this.

If another parent offers you spare or used feeding equipment, please note you should never use second-hand teats, even if they have been thoroughly sterilised.