Key Facts
Location
Project Criteria
Project funding
£98,487
Funding round
PACE is a charity that promotes the health and well-being of lesbians, gay men and bi-sexual by providing a range of free or low cost services. We were set up in 1985 and our services include counselling, sexual health counselling, groupwork, mental health advocacy, employment, youth work and family therapy services.
We are using the Parenting Fund grant to develop the Family Support Project. It will provide specialist support to lesbian, gay and bisexual people whose parental needs are seldom addressed. These may be biological parents, adoptive or foster parents or people thinking of adopting or fostering. We also want to support parents who are trying to come to terms with the sexuality of their lesbian, gay or bisexual child. Many parents can find coming to terms with the sexuality of their child extremely difficult and often feel isolated. The programme will be tailor made for each family. It will explore parental anxieties around gay sexuality, discuss fact and myths, learn different ways of addressing areas of conflict and build on participants' parenting strengths.
We will offer:
- a specialist parental skills support programme for parents who are struggling with their child's sexuality
- a group programme for lesbian and gay parents whose children are struggling with their parent's sexuality
- provide a facilitated group for parents to discuss the difficulties that arise from their sexuality. Many lesbian and gay parents need to feel less isolated and gain peer support from other lesbian and gay parents
- provide support for lesbian and gay people who are considering adopting/ fostering or who are already adoptive / foster parents
- changes in the adoption law mean that many more lesbian and gay people are considering adoption and fostering. PACE will provide an adoption and fostering support service to lesbian, gay and bisexual parents. Where prospective parents live outside London we will offer telephone support.
PACE will also deliver a training programme for other family organisations. This will explore family issues and how these impact on lesbian, gay and bisexual parents as well as the assessment of lesbian and gay prospective adopters.