The Early Help Collective work with families with at least one child under the age of 2 who need everyday support with family life. A worker or volunteer will be available to work alongside each family to understand needs.
We aspire to the proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” and not only offer the necessary 1-2-1 support but also a place where families can find ongoing support and connection.
Support will be available in the new Family Hubs, in the family home or wherever the family feels safe and comfortable.
This is an inclusive service, delivered by seven local experienced voluntary and community organisations that specialise in supporting families with a variety of needs. The organisations include:
● DABD
● Carers Centre SA Ltd
● Lifeline Projects
● Mind (Barking & Dagenham)
● Safe Families
● So He Cares
● Sycamore Trust
The collective aim to:
· Enable parents/carers to feel more confident and supported in their transition to new parenthood
· Ensure that the needs of families with protected characteristics, such as disability, race, gender, and sexual orientation, are met
· Enable parents to build resilience by supporting them to find solutions to their problems/needs within the local community
· Enable parents to adopt parenting strategies and techniques that will lead to healthy children that are ready to learn at age two and ready for school at age five
Examples of support families can expect
Each family will be given an allocated worker who will support the family address an array of difficulties by seeking to increase parents’ sense of control over their destiny, boost connection, trust and belonging. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the types of support we can offer families
· 1-2-1 support to address child’s needs including setting a new family routine, trialling different strategies to manage complex behaviours and advice around altering the physical characteristics of the home
· A friendly face and a listening ear who helps families navigate the system
· Provide advice, information and support for people who have an unpaid caring role
· Support with social inclusion - this includes connecting families with free local activities, an opportunity to meet other parents and attempting to ascertain the barriers to engaging with the wider community
· Practical support which can include sourcing volunteers to support with decluttering, decorating, budgeting, and organisation
· Access to welfare benefits advice
· Signposting to more specialist services
· Access to a myriad of groups within the 7 different organisations (e.g., youth groups, young carers support, mental health support etc.)