Successful first year for service supporting parents with learning difficulties
A service aimed at supporting families in which there are parents who have mild to moderate learning difficulties or are on the autistic spectrum has celebrated its first birthday with a Mad Hatters Tea party for clients, staff and collaborators.
The NOW Family Service has supported 30 clients since it began in October 2015. It has worked with new and expectant parents with children under five in the Belfast area to support them by building confidence, developing their parenting skills and helping them feel more connected to their communities. When they are ready to go back to work the service also provides opportunities for parents to move onto NOW’s training and employment service to help them find a job.
Building confidence and independence
The NOW Family Service is an initiative of NOW Group, a social enterprise which supports people with learning difficulties and autism into jobs with a future. The team support clients to do things they otherwise might not have the confidence to do with the aim of helping them connect to their local community and gain the confidence to do these things independently in the future. This includes attending medical appointments, going along to parenting classes and mums and tots groups with them. They also encourage peer support where people can meet others in similar situations to share stories and build friendships.
Head of Services, Pauline Fitzsimons comments, “It has been a fantastic first year for our Family Service programme. We began this service because we knew that there was a need for additional support for parents with learning difficulties and autism. At NOW we have worked with this client group for years and realised that pregnancy and parenthood can bring with it a different set of challenges for people with learning difficulties.
The main aim of the Family Service is to ensure that the new babies have the best start in life in a family that is equipped to look after them. We provide support to the whole family - parents, siblings, grandparents to help build up their confidence in looking after the new baby and to link in with services available in their community.”
Links to the community
As people with learning difficulties can often feel isolated from their community the NOW Family Service has spent the last year building connections with organisations that can help clients integrate with other new parents. Relationships have been formed with maternity services in the local hospitals, social services, Family Support Hubs and Sure Start among others.
The NOW Family Service is funded by The Big Lottery Fund for a further three years with the possibility of extension. If you would like to find out more about the service you can get in touch on 07710714275 or email [email protected]. Visit www.nowgroup.org for more information.
