Family Welfare Association (FWA) - Major
Key Facts
Location
Project Criteria
Project funding
£180,245
Funding round
The Family Welfare Association (FWA) was set up in 1869 as a charity to work with vulnerable families and people. We deliver a wide range of community based programmes including:
- home and project based support to parents and their children
- community based mental health services
- financial help for families in need
- educational grants advice for disadvantaged people.
The FWA Newpin Centres are for primary carers who are depressed, isolated and who have a poor bond with their infant. The aim of the project is to break this destructive cycle. Newpin currently provides a support service for parents with children under five. It involves frequent attendance at the local centre, therapeutic interventions and programmes that develop parenting skills and promote personal development. Parents are invited to attend at least twice a week where they will find a homely and supportive atmosphere. Emotional and practical support between user-members is also encouraged.
The long-term and therapeutic nature of the work provides a strong source of support for the parents with its emphasis on parenting. The play facilitator in each team promotes the mental health of the child.
Newpin receives a significant number of referrals for parents known to have mental health problems. We are using the Parenting Fund to re-position ourselves to provide an effective service for these clients. For this new development we will:
- provide training in working with mental health issues for all the staff in the Newpin teams and provide on-going clinical supervision to support their work
- establish a co-ordinated multi-agency approach to the care and support of Newpin service users with mental health problems
- enable Newpin Centres to meet the complex range of needs of families with mental health problems more effectively
- reposition Newpins as centres of excellence in working with parents with mental health problems and their children and disseminate this work.
By the end of the funded period we expect FWA Newpin Centres to be known for providing excellent, long-term support for parents with mental health problems who are caring for their babies and young children.