Media centre

A new family service, opening in September 2024 across three Family Hubs in Manchester, is looking for volunteers from the community to join the team in support of local families.

Family Action will be running the Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities (EPEC) parenting programme, a national, proven method of early intervention that helps children and families get the very best start in life.

Family Action, a national charity dedicated to supporting families, announces this week the opening of its new Sensory Room at the Longtown Children’s Centre.

The room, designed to provide a calming and comfortable environment for children aged 0-5, as well as those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) up to 8 years old, will offer local families a valuable resource for learning and development.

HM The King’s New Year’s Honours List announces that Family Action Chief Executive, David Holmes CBE will receive a knighthood in recognition of his services to children and families. 

Family Action’s Sheffield ADHD Drop-in Café marked its first birthday with a special event this week, to celebrate its work supporting hundreds of families looking for advice and guidance around their child’s behaviour.

Research from national charity Family Action reveals the stark reality many families face this Christmas. Families across the UK are facing increasing financial hardship and new research from Family Action reveals that 1 in 7 parents/carers surveyed, said they won’t be able to afford to buy presents for their children this Christmas due to financial constraints.

The Bridge Young Carers service in County Durham unveiled its Young Carers Charter at a celebratory event held to commemorate Carers Rights Day on 23 November, at Hardwick Hall Hotel.

Thomas Shepherd, aged 11 from March in Cambridgeshire, is walking 10,000 steps a day in November, to raise money for Family Action’s Christmas Toy Appeal. 

Family Action and Barclays announce a 3-year partnership to support families and individuals across the country. 

Family Action in Stockton thanks its 27 volunteers with a special event on 6th June to mark National Volunteers Week. 

Family Action and JP Morgan Chase & Co. have launched the Investing in Futures Fund, on International Single Parents Day, to provide hundreds of single parents in London with grants in support of their education and training.

Family Action’s Adoption Support Agency, PAC-UK, has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in all areas, following its December 2022 inspection. Adoption Support Agency PAC-UK, part of national charity Family Action, has been awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating by Ofsted for the fourth time in a row.

Family Action is set to be the delivery partner for the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) for an additional year, due to an additional investment of up to £12m by the government. The funding ensures that hundreds of thousands of children, across England, will continue to be provided with a healthy and nutritious breakfast at the start of the school day.

Family Action Chief Executive David Holmes CBE said everyone at Family Action had been deeply saddened by the news of the death of Her Majesty The Queen.

He added: “Her Majesty The Queen has been and will continue to be an inspiration to all for generations to come. Her selfless service to our country over so many decades has been truly remarkable.

Gemma Atkinson and three-year-old daughter, Mia help to launch new resources from Family Action and Fisher-Price® highlighting fun ways families can play together this summer.

Ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week, new research from LV=General Insurance and Family Action reveals as many as four in five men are hiding their problems from their nearest and dearest.

A service to provide support for children in Dorset with special educational needs and disabilities will be launched by Family Action in February. The programme is a free, confidential and impartial service for children and young people and their parents or carers. It will be jointly funded by Dorset’s Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Dorset Council.

Manchester Gorton MP Afzal Khan visited a FOOD Club in Manchester on Friday to see for himself the support the service gives to families struggling with the cost of living. FOOD (Food On Our Doorstep) Clubs offer families a range of good quality food including fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and dried and tinned foods each week worth approximately £10 – 15 for just £3.50. Members pay £1 to join for the year and are then able to ‘shop’ at the club once a week.

The ‘wishes’ which Helen and her publishers have granted for the young carers supported by Family Action will be a welcome treat and are a wonderful way to let them know we are here to help.

Wakefield’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS), known as WESAIL, will be managed by the national charity Family Action from April. The WESAIL service aims to improve outcomes for children and young people up to the age of 25, who have, or may have a special educational need or disability, and their families. It provides access to free, impartial, accurate and confidential advice and support throughout the Wakefield district.

Family Action, in partnership with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, is the new provider of the Family Time and Outreach and Volunteers service from April. Family Time provides a safe space for children in the care of the local authority or otherwise separated from their parents and other relatives to continue to meet, while developing and maintaining those relationships.

New findings from research commissioned by Fisher-Price and Family Action that are released today, shows two years on since the start of the pandemic, a third of parents are worried their children have been held back. In response, Family Action has joined forces with Fisher-Price Play Lab in an initiative which will provide funding, resources and Early Childhood Development-focused toys proven to help with social, language, motor skills and numeracy.

Family Action is delighted to have been awarded the Children’s Early Years Core Purpose and Outreach Service within the Wythenshawe area. The charity looks forward to running the Children’s Centres on behalf of Manchester City Council and using their many years of experience to continue supporting families, working with the local community to meet their needs.

Family Action and Engage Antenatal would like to give an assurance that the Flourishing Babies Service will continue offering high quality support to new parents across Northampton and Kettering, following the sad news that our partner organisation NorPIP will be closing.

Family Action is delighted to announce the launch of Small Steps, a new 12 month pilot service in Medway, offering specialist and early support for children with suspected or diagnosed Autism (also known as ASC) and ADHD. Small Steps launches on the 14 April on behalf of Medway Council. It provides early support, both practical and emotional, that is individually tailored for families where a child or young person is displaying concerning behaviour, or where they receive a diagnosis of ASC or ADHD. The service offers support pre diagnosis so families can get the right advice and direction from the beginning.

A service to help new parents and their babies in the Stockton-on-Tees area launched on 12 April 2021 by Family Action. The Stockton-on-Tees Perinatal Support Service, which is being funded by the Department of Health & Social Care’s Health & Wellbeing Fund, will support parents who may be struggling with low to medium level mental health issues, helping them during pregnancy and up until their child is two years old.

The future of the Portsmouth Abuse and Rape Counselling Service, PARCS, has been assured by
joining national charity, Family Action. PARCS and Family Action will merge on 1st April 2021 with
PARCS’ services becoming part of Family Action’s wider portfolio. Both organisations share similar
values as well as a rich heritage supporting vulnerable people.

National charity Family Action is delighted to have won the Community Award in UCL’s (University College London)’s annual Provost’s Public Engagement Awards 2020. The award is for the charity’s partnership with the University’s MIRRA Project (Memory-Identity-Rights In Records – Access) to develop the charity’s exciting new FamilyConnect online service.

Feeling isolated, alone and having no one to listen to you when you just need to talk to someone is something many care leavers experience, especially at the moment where they may be all on their own as the pandemic continues with limited opportunities to socialise or be in contact with other people.

This National Care Leavers Week (26 October to 1 November), the charity Family Action would like to highlight that help is out there. Every evening we run our ListeningWorks service with trained volunteers who offer a listening ear and friendly voice for care leavers, aged 18-27, who may have no one to talk to, together with befriending and mentoring opportunities.

Recent months have been tough for everyone and this is especially true for families with children who have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND).  Due to the lockdown, together with their children perhaps not understanding why they cannot go out, go to school and see their friends, these families have faced even more isolation and anxiety.

However, help is available for families in Walsall though Walsall SENDIAS, Family Action’s information, advice and support service. Working closely with Walsall Council and other Walsall partner organisations, the service works in line with the Walsall Right 4 Children programme.

Over four thousand vulnerable families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic will receive support from the
charity Family Action thanks to a new partnership with Barclays. The Banking group is donating to fund a new grants programme for people facing extreme hardship and 18 new Food On Our Doorstep (FOOD) Clubs. Barclays’ colleagues will also be volunteering with Family Action projects and services across the country.

Family Action has been awarded a grant of £29,769 over 3 years by BBC Children in Need and Wellcome. This grant will fund ecology-themed holiday clubs and help make a difference to the lives of children and young people in the Miles Platting and Newton Heath areas of Manchester.

We are delighted to announce the launch of Last Date, a social drama film that deals with the often misunderstood and underestimated impact of coercive and controlling behaviour amongst many young people.
Produced by Omni Productions and supported by national charity Family Action, Last Date is the follow-up to Leaving, the influential film about domestic violence and abuse, which is a widely respected training resource for many in the health and social sectors.

We are excited to announce that the award-winning national youth programme HeadStart is joining the charity, Family Action. Formed in 2013 by The Challenge in partnership with the Mayor of London, HeadStart is a valuable addition to the 140 plus services already delivered by Family Action, a charity that has been supporting children, young people and families across the UK since 1869.

HeadStart is a volunteering and employability programme that supports young people across England to volunteer at least 16 hours in exchange for a guaranteed job interview. Through social action, the programme inspires and supports young people to engage in positive and meaningful interactions with people from different backgrounds within their local communities and employees from leading businesses. 11,000 young people have already volunteered more than 200,000 hours through the HeadStart programme.

Charities Family Action and Magic Breakfast, delivery partners for the National Schools Breakfast Programme (NSBP), are delighted that thousands more children across the country will get a healthy and nutritious breakfast, setting them up for a school day ready to learn, thanks to an additional investment of up to £11.8 million by the government to support disadvantaged families.

So far the NSBP has created or improved around 1,800 school breakfast clubs in disadvantaged areas. Thanks to this additional investment, up to 650 more schools will benefit in the next year, with resources once again specifically targeted at the most disadvantaged areas, helping make sure every child gets the best start in life.

More than one in ten women* develop a mental illness during pregnancy and during the year following the birth of their child. If untreated these illnesses can have a devastating impact on women and their families. Community Advance Project, in collaboration with the charity Family Action and with support from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, has made a new film ‘Maternal Mental Health’ to help new mothers affected by maternal mental health issues and their wider families. It is aimed at new mothers and their families as well as professionals working with new parents and in maternal mental health. It has also been made for use as a training resource.

*maternalmentalhealthalliance.org/about/the-issue/

On 14 November, Family Action were delighted to host the Mayor of Medway, Cllr Habib Tejan at a special event at the Corn Exchange in Rochester to raise awareness of the services provided by the charity for the Medway Community. These services include a Perinatal Support Project, Medway SENDIAS and Active Families.

Family Action is delighted to announce that TV and Radio presenter, Angellica Bell, will be hosting the special concert, with a reading from broadcaster Sean Fletcher, at the beautiful St James’s Church in Clerkenwell on 5 December.

The two broadcasters will be joined by a stunning line up of choirs and soloists including the Royal Academy of Music’s children’s choir, operatic trio Sorelle and community choir the Canbury Singers, who will be performing favourite Christmas classics for the audience to listen to and sing along with whilst they enjoy festive refreshments.

Christmas is a special time for many of us, as we share quality time together; enjoy eating and drinking with family and friends and take pleasure in giving carefully chosen presents to those who mean most to us. However, the sad fact is that every year thousands of families don’t have the money or circumstances to enjoy Christmas in the way so many of us can. That is why the charity Family Action has launched their annual Christmas Toy Appeal to help ease the financial burden of Christmas and ensure that no child supported by the charity goes without a gift.

Family Action and children’s newspaper First News have published a free teaching resource to help schools deliver age-appropriate lessons for 9-11-year olds on relationships as well as physical and mental health.

The new teaching pack is being released during Family Action’s 150th anniversary year, which it is marking with a campaign to get people talking about the everyday pressures on families. Relationships and concerns about health and wellbeing were two of the top five pressures adults said were common in their close family.

For some families, it can be difficult and confusing to find the support they need to deal with the challenges they face. Families Together Leeds, a new service run by national charity Family Action in partnership with Leeds City Council, helps families with children and young people across the City of Leeds, to access the right support at the right time.

The Family Monsters Garden, shown in the artisan section at RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year (20-25 May 2019), has won a Gold Medal and named Best Artisan garden.

Designed by Alistair Bayford the Family Monsters Garden celebrates 150 years of the national charity Family Action supporting families across the country and 100 years of idverde, which creates and maintains landscapes for the benefit of local communities, such as parks and gardens.

The Family Monsters Garden is designed to get people talking about the everyday pressures all families face, but can find difficult to talk about. Research for Family Action found the top five pressures on family life today are money, health & wellness, work & education, spending quality time together and relationships. The charity says families need to find ways to talk about these ‘family monsters’ to stop them from becoming overwhelming, as illustrated in the Family Monsters Project film.

Today the Duchess of Cambridge visited Family Action to launch FamilyLine, a new confidential helpline for families, after research by the national charity found family members want to talk about problems but don’t always know who to turn to. The Duchess met FamilyLine staff and volunteers and talked with three families and a group of young carers supported by Family Action.

Three in four adults in Britain, almost 38 million people, say their close family is under pressure according to new research published today by national charity Family Action to mark its 150th anniversary and launch its Family Monsters Project to help families with everyday challenges.

The Swaffham based ESCAPE allotment and orchard community project, run by the charity Family Action, is delighted to announce they will be part of the team creating a thought-provoking garden for families at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019. ESCAPE’s participants will be growing plants and creating a willow sculpture for the ‘idverde Family Action Anniversary Garden’, which has been designed to mark the 150th anniversary of Family Action and the 100th anniversary of green service provider idverde.

We are delighted to announce that Family Action and PAC-UK formally merged on the 1st December 2018. PAC-UK, which offers specialist therapy, advice, support, counselling and training for all affected by adoption and permanency, joins the wide portfolio of services provided by Family Action that support people and families across the UK.

PAC-UK brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise, which will complement and enhance Family Action’s present work supporting those involved with adoption and permanency. Both organisations are committed to developing, delivering and promoting best practice to support children and families and we look forward to working with everyone to continue PAC-UKs important and valuable work making a positive difference to the lives of people and families in the UK.

The merger will not reduce PAC-UK’s range of services, core expertise or reputation in any way, and its name will still be the same. Indeed both organisations hope that the merger will bring new opportunities for PAC-UK. We are determined to maintain PAC-UK’s Outstanding Ofsted rating and the deep knowledge and expertise amongst its staff and supporter base, all of which will enable us to continue to drive impact and sustainability.

For further details please contact [email protected]

To mark the 150th anniversary of charity Family Action and the 100th anniversary of green service provider idverde, the two organisations are creating a thought-provoking garden for families at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019.

The garden, which will be in the artisan section of the show, is designed to get people talking about the everyday pressures all families face but can find difficult to talk about, as part of a new national conversation about family life today.

Face 2 Face, an Islington based service run by the charity Family Action, is looking for people to become volunteer befrienders to help parents and carers of children with additional needs. Our volunteer befrienders provide invaluable support for parents before, after and during the processes of their child being assessed. They all have had some experience of children with additional needs and give parents the opportunity to talk through problems and feelings, suggest helpful strategies and provide a non-judgmental listening ear.

Family Action is celebrating after being awarded £302,230 of National Lottery funding from Sport England to help low-income families in Medway in Kent and Bishop Auckland in County Durham get active with their children.

Young carers from Family Action’s Young Carers Support Services in Islington and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead are starring in a new film “Supporting Young Carers”. The short film, made by the Community Advance Project in partnership with the charities Family Action and Barnardo’s, includes interviews with the young people sharing their stories about being a young carer, including the challenges they experience. Experts from Barnado’s and Family Action also talk about the issues affecting this group of young people and give advice to help young carers, their families and the professionals who they may come into contact with.

The charity Family Action’s mentoring service Friendship Works is looking for more volunteer mentors to help change the lives of young people in Lambeth.

We have a high number of young people in Lambeth waiting for a mentor right now, and we need volunteers ready to make a direct difference to the life of a young person in their community. We are looking for dedicated people who can volunteer their time to help and encourage young people to grow a positive sense of self, their social skills and their abilities – the elements we all need to become resilient adults, coping with all that life throws at us.

The charity Family Action is delighted to announce that their Perinatal Support Project in Medway has been awarded funding for a further three years. Thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery Fund, the service will be able to continue to offer help and support to new mums affected by perinatal mental health issues and their families in the Medway area.

School holidays can be challenging for vulnerable and low-income families. The loss of free school meals and regular social and play opportunities can create stress and worry, leading to social isolation and put nutrition, wellbeing and finances under additional strain. We are delighted to announce the launch of a new programme, Families, Food and Fun (FFF), which will help to address these issues.

Schools in disadvantaged areas of England are being encouraged to sign up to receive free, healthy breakfast food and expert support as part of a big recruitment drive for the new National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP).

The NSBP, funded by the Department for Education from the soft drinks industry levy, is being delivered by Family Action and Magic Breakfast. Schools which either have no existing breakfast provision, or breakfast provision where there is scope for improvement (according to specific criteria), are being urged to find out if they are eligible for support. There is funding available for breakfast provision in over 1,770 schools – primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units (PRUs).

The Grenfell WellCommunity Service, run by the charity Family Action, is now open and delivering support to those most directly affected by the Grenfell Tower fire from premises in Harrow Road. The Service has been designed and set up in consultation with members of the Grenfell Community to ensure that it meets their needs. It is independently funded by the Haley Yearwood Fund and money raised by Family Action. The Service offers tailored support to anyone who was living in Grenfell Tower or Grenfell Walk including families, children, the elderly and single people. We offer practical help with issues such as parenting, education, housing and employment. Emotional support – helping people deal with the ongoing effects of trauma and disruption – is also a priority. Our specialist children and young people’s support worker will work to meet the particular needs of younger survivors. In addition, specialist staff from the charities Child Bereavement UK and Winston’s Wish are co-located with Grenfell WellCommunity Service, both offering bereavement services for the community affected.

National charity Family Action and Hackney based charity Off Centre are delighted to announce they formally merged at the beginning of May. Off Centre joins the wide portfolio of services that Family Action provides to support people and families across the UK, including children and young people.

Family Action’s report on the Gender Pay Gap in accordance with The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017

National charity Family Action and Bolton based mental health charity Building A New Direction (BAND) are delighted to announce they will be formally merging from the beginning of April. BAND will join the portfolio of services that Family Action provides to support people and families across the UK, including those affected by mental health issues.

To help ensure children across England can start their school day in the healthiest way, national charities Family Action and Magic Breakfast are delighted to announce the launch of a new National School Breakfast Programme which will provide free, nutritious breakfasts and tailored support to schools.

It can be very frightening, lonely and confusing for a young person who is leaving the care system, especially if they are without family or previous carers they can turn to for advice, information or support. Having an enduring and stable friendship with a positive, caring adult makes an enormous difference at this crucial point in their life. To help these young people navigate the challenges they face when transitioning into adulthood, Family Action’s Friendship Works is launching a new mentoring service specifically for care leavers aged 18-25. Initially this is a three year pilot during which time we will be supporting around 60 young people across London; however we will be working hard to extend the service to reach more care leavers in the years to come.

Most families face challenges at some time and may need help and advice. Being a parent or carer to a child or young person can often be difficult without readily available emotional support and guidance. Many parents feel confused by the information that is available or struggle to access services close to home. This is why the charity Family Action is launching a new National Digital Parent Support Service (DPSS) to provide practical and emotional support to parents and the carers of children and young people with the issues and challenges which impact on their family’s day to day living.

To help alleviate the extra pressure experienced by the A & E Department at Homerton Hospital, Hackney, due to increased demand during the winter, the charity Family Action, in collaboration with the Healthy London Partnership, will be providing an exciting new Social Prescribing Service at the hospital from December 2017 until March 2018.

Family Action, a national charity committed to building stronger families through 140 projects across England, Wales and the Isle of Man, would like to thank the Duchess of Cambridge for visiting Hornsey Road Children’s Centre and Nursery today.  The Duchess met with families who use the centre and nursery and met parents, babies, staff and volunteers who access or work within Family Action’s perinatal mental health services around the country.

Family Action is very honoured to have been chosen by Haley Yearwood to disburse the funds raised through her incredible crowdfunding appeal following the terrible Grenfell Fire. In accordance with Haley’s original vision the funds will be spent on both short term and long term support for the individuals and families affected by the fire.

In the short term we will be establishing a grants scheme in order to disburse £750,000 of the monies raised very quickly to those affected. This grants scheme will be open within the next few days and will build on our recent experience of making financial grants to those affected by the fire. The rest of the funds raised will be used to fund a long term responsive service providing emotional and practical support to the Grenfell community. The service will be provided for a minimum of three years. This service will go into set up now and will be fully operational by January.

Family Action has launched an exciting new National Special Guardianship Support Service to provide high quality information, guidance and emotional support to special guardians across England. This new service has been developed in direct response to the increase in the number of Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) being granted and to help and support the growing number of special guardianship families.

The family support charity Family Action welcomed families, both new and old, to a special open day at Birchtree Pre-School in Dogsthorpe on September 4th.

Family Action would like to give our warmest congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the wonderful news that they are expecting their third child.

We are honoured that The Duchess of Cambridge chose to visit Hornsey Road Children’s Centre. Although she is no longer able to attend today we entirely understand why this wasn’t possible.

We are honoured and delighted that The Duchess of Cambridge has chosen to visit Hornsey Road Children’s Centre.

We look forward to introducing The Duchess to some of the parents and children we support together with Family Action staff. We are also looking forward to presenting the range of Early Years’ services Family Action offers, and particularly our perinatal support work.

Family Action would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated money to the Family Action Grenfell Tower Fund appeal which has raised £258,000 to date, with more money still being donated. We are pleased to be able to announce that, as of Thursday 20 July, we have made 96 grants to households affected by the recent devastating fire totalling £144,540.00 (93 households in Grenfell Tower and three households in the adjacent Grenfell Walk). All grants have been made to improve the wellbeing of those households. Family Action believes that there are other Grenfell individuals and families who may need help who have not yet applied for grants. We are encouraging those people to come forward so we can support them too.

We would love to hear from anyone who has been involved with the charity Family Action’s mentoring service Friendship Works throughout its 40-year history. We want anyone who had a mentor with us as a child or young person; volunteer mentors; supporters and staff from the past to contact us to be part of our celebrations and help us make our anniversary really special. This will include a ‘birthday party’ to be held in the Autumn!

This year, Friendship Works celebrates 40 years of supporting young Londoners through mentoring.

As often happens, reaching this milestone has led us to reflect on our achievements so far, and consider where we want to go next. Friendship Works are excited to share some of those reflections with you.

A party of six children, together with a mum and staff from the charity Family Action’s Lewisham Young Carer’s Service enjoyed a fantastic visit to the Science Museum’s new interactive ‘Wonderlab: The Statoil Gallery’  in central London on April 11^th.

The group had great fun trying out the amazing interactive exhibits, including friction slides, and watching the “Under Pressure” live demonstration, learning about how science and mathematics shape our lives.

The trip was organised as part of the partnership between the Science Museum and Family Action giving free access to the Wonderlab for groups of children and their families who are supported by the charity.

Family Action is delighted to announce that Georgia McCormick from Channel 4’s Hit Show Gogglebox will be our guest speaker at the Charity’s ASD/ADHD Information Sharing Day which is being held as part of Autism Awareness month.

The free event on the 26^th April, which has been organised by Family Action’s Peterborough’s SENDIAS Support service together with volunteers and other local services, is an opportunity for families, from across Peterborough, with children who are pre/post diagnosis of ASD/ADHD to listen to guest speakers and meet other parents and carers facing similar challenges and issues.  This event is also aimed at professionals as well as families. Georgia McCormick, who has two children with additional needs, will share her journey that continues to date, and welcomes the opportunity to speak with other parents in a similar situation.

Friendship Works, which is run by the charity Family Action, is delighted to announce they are launching their mentoring service in Lambeth thanks to a grant from Walcot Foundation. The charity is now recruiting volunteers to mentor children and young people in the Lambeth area. The children and young people supported are all different, but all have one thing in common: they are facing multiple disadvantages and their circumstances often mean they have limited social interaction outside the family home. This means it is difficult for them to access the types of extracurricular activities most children enjoy, which help build self-esteem and develop life-skills.

Family Action’s ESCAPE Project and Wissey Valley Arts, with support from the Norfolk Community Foundation, have come together to organise the annual Wassail at the Swaefas Swale Community Orchard, Swaffham taking place on Saturday 14th January.  This centuries old traditional ceremony blesses the apple trees to help produce a good crop and ensure a bountiful harvest in the forthcoming season.  Wassailers will meet at the ESCAPE Community Allotments, run by Family Action, on Tumbler Hill for mulled apple juice followed by the ceremony which will commence with the crowning of the Wassail King or Queen. Then, accompanied by flaming torches, everyone will join a noisy procession to Swaefas Swale Orchard where the fire will be lit and traditional wassail verse and ritual will complete the ceremony. Weather permitting, there will be music around the fire afterwards.

Family Action is hosting  fundraising event “Cheltenham on Trend” – an exclusive evening of fashion and glamour for the second year running.  The fashion show and auction will feature all the latest trends from leading fashion retailers including Cousins of Cheltenham, OSKA, Karen Millen, Hobbs, LK Bennett and the House of Fraser.  This fabulous event is sponsored once again by the award winning Stuart Holmes Salon for hair and beauty.

Family Action is launching a new and important Perinatal Support Service in Manchester this January. The Manchester Perinatal Support Service is focused on the ‘perinatal’ period, which means from conception onwards up to baby being one year old.  The service is designed to provide emotional support for women and families during this critical time and is the first of its kind in Manchester.  The service trains volunteer Befrienders who, as peer supporters, will provide emotional support and will also help families to access support from other relevant services in their communities thus breaking the cycle of despair and social isolation caused by perinatal depression.

It was announced this week that a new specialised programme to support new parents and their babies in Northampton and Daventry is to be launched thanks to an award of nearly £500,000 from the Big Lottery Fund.

The programme, ‘Flourishing Babies’, will be run in partnership by local family therapy charity NorPIP; family support charity, Family Action and Before Baby which is  run by social enterprise Engage Antenatal C.I.C. and aims to generate better outcomes for 300 vulnerable babies and families across the area over the next three years.

The charities Atal Y Fro and Family Action announce the launch of a new joint service, the Families Together Project. The service, which is funded by the Welsh Government, will help families across Wales who are in need of support.

A new service to support fathers in Medway was launched at Gillingham Football Club on 21st July. ‘PAPAS’ (Partners Access to Perinatal Advice & Support offers help to new dads and fathers-to-be who are supporting partners affected by mental health issues during pregnancy and following the birth of a child. 

Parents as Partners, which is run by the charity Family Action in conjunction with Tavistock Relationships, is launching a new service in Medway and North Kent which offers a free group programme for couples and co-parents of children aged eleven or under.

Family Action is launching a significant new service to support families where a child has recently been diagnosed, or awaits assessment, regarding an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The Department of Health has awarded the charity funding for three years to deliver the Health Champions service in three sites; Breckland and West Norfolk, Peterborough and Sandwell.

 “I’m not sure what I would do without this place… I have nowhere else to go, this is a big part of my life”   Project participant

This Mental Health Awareness Week (16-22 May), we would like to highlight the ESCAPE project at Tumbler Hill in Swaffham. The Project, managed by the charity Family Action, to supports vulnerable members of the local community with improved mental health and emotional wellbeing. This is achieved  through the benefits of being outside, being active, growing, nurturing and eating the food  produced by the Project’s participants and most importantly of all, through feeling a sense of belonging and a sense of purpose.

Three Young Carers Services, run by the charity Family Action in London, have been awarded the Investing in Children Membership Award™ by the organisation Investing in Children. The charity’s Young Carers Services in Camden, Islington and Newham are all recipients of the award.

Family Action has been shortlisted for the UK-wide Charity Governance Awards 2016. The charity is in the running for the ‘Embracing opportunity and harnessing risk’ award and a prize of a £5,000 unrestricted grant. Family Action is one of 18 charities from across the UK that completes the full shortlist.

New research into the innovative Open Doors Programme, run by the charity Family Action with support from Lankelly Chase, reveals the significant impact small cash grants have when combined with other support. With in-depth interviews with grant recipients and their support workers, the report “Opening Doors, Changing Lives”, gives a unique insight into how these grants, together with accompanying support from a network of services,  can have a real impact on a recipient’s entire life.

Family Action is delighted to be delivering the supervised contact centre in Douglas on behalf of the Isle of Man Government and to be working closely with the Government to implement a high quality family support service

Family Action is thrilled that their CEO, David Holmes CBE was named as “People-Focused CEO of the Year” at the HR Distinction Awards last night in Birmingham.

Family Action was very pleased to welcome the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon David Cameron MP and Secretary of State for Education the Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP to Family Action on the 11th January 2016 and to introduce them to a wide range of our family support services.

Family Action were delighted to welcome new Vice Patrons at the exclusive archive event “Families and Hard Times”. The Vice Patrons are Christine Davies CBE; Dr Andrew McCulloch; Dame Denise Platt DBE; Katie Vanneck-Smith and Professor Harriet Ward CBE.

Family Action is delighted to have been awarded a Big Lottery grant of £378,035 which will allow the charity to pilot its successful WellFamily service, presently offered in GP surgeries in Hackney and Wandsworth, in an A & E department to help reduce ‘repeat and inappropriate attendance’.

The charities Family Action and Friendship Works are delighted to announce they will be formally merging on the 1st October. Friendship Works will join the portfolio of services that Family Action provides to vulnerable children, young people and families across the UK.

A family learning food and play programme is helping to fill the gap and reduce families’ financial and emotional strain during the school holidays by running 32 ‘holiday kitchen’ programmes across the country throughout August.

Responding to the publication of the child poverty statistics, Family Action CEO and Chair of the End Child Poverty coalition, David Holmes responding to the publication of the child poverty statistics.

Innovative group parenting programme reduces parents’ psychological distress, improves relationship quality and parenting skills, helping participants and their children.

Family Action launches its brand new Training and Consultancy Service, offering expert knowledge, specialist training and professional consultancy to other organisations and agencies working with vulnerable families, children and individuals.

A coalition of 29 organisations, including Family Action, have united to send a Mother’s Day letter to Chancellor George Osborne,  calling for better funding for maternal mental health services ahead of next week’s budget.

A joint manifesto, published the by Family Room coalition of charities, is launched on Tuesday 10 February 2015.

The Family Room – coordinated by The Family and Childcare Trust – is a collaboration of 18 leading not for profit organisations supporting millions of families each year and developing family policy across the UK.

In the run up to the General Election, members of the Family Room have come together to create a joint manifesto covering a range of areas closely connected to family and childcare policy. The manifesto is calling on any incoming Government to develop a cross-departmental Family Strategy to improve family income, stability and wellbeing.

Family Action, supported by LankellyChase Foundation and NEF Consulting, releases the first findings from the innovative Open Doors programme. The programme distributes small cash grants via a network of partners who provide support to people experiencing extreme poverty and severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD).

A new evaluation highlights the effectiveness of Holiday Kitchen, an innovative programme that provides family learning, food and play to families that need it most during the summer holiday periods.

Family Action’s Perinatal Support Services are effective in reducing post-natal depression and there is evidence of a wide range of short and long term benefits for the women themselves, their children and society at large.

Parents in Manchester who are worried relationship issues are affecting their parenting abilities are being sought to attend a free programme run by Family Action and the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships (TCCR).

Maintaining routines at home in the face of change at school is just one of the tips offered to parents in the latest leaflet from school leaders’ union NAHT and partner charity, Family Action.

Advice on preserving children’s wellbeing is the focus of the latest leaflet to come from the partnership between school leaders’ union NAHT and the charity Family Action.

New leaflet includes tips on how parents can make invaluable link between lessons and leisure time 

Leaflet from Family Action and NAHT is third produced under the banner ‘Ready to Learn Every Day’

76% of Family Action workers say isolation is a bigger problem at Christmas

Report calls for extra investment in services to tackle loneliness

Squeeze on budgets sees moving and furnishing costs take families by surprise

Many consider cutting back spending on food and heating to pay for furnishing a home

Almost 60% say their homes have not improved in past five years

New leaflet for parents asks them to make quality family time for speaking and listening

Includes advice on what mums and dads can do to help develop their children’s communication skills

Leaflet from Family Action and NAHT is second of four produced under the banner ‘Ready to Learn Every Day’

Pricey school uniforms should be dropped in favour of plain clothes and a badge

New report shows a range of costs are taking parents by surprise but emotional support from partners matters most

Independent evaluation recommends practice innovation tool to commissioners of family services