► Description of Project for Volunteer Info Pack

Who are Family Lives? 

Family Lives is a charity that has over three decades of experience in helping parents deal with the changes that are a constant part of family life. We know that many people play active roles in the raising of children within any family, from Dads, Grandparents, stepparents and non-resident parents. Our role is to support everyone to achieve the best relationship possible with the children that they care about.

What is the Instructions not Included Befriending Scheme? 

This befriending scheme is part of a wider project which aims to support parents who are struggling with family life. Overall, the project will include a volunteer befriending scheme, parenting workshops, online parenting tools, work with GPs, teachers, children’s centres and other local groups and a programme to set up parent peer to peer support groups. The volunteer befriending aspect of the project is a new way of working for us and is therefore a pilot project which will be externally evaluated. As part of that project, becoming a volunteer to support families will empower you to bring real and lasting change to families in need. 

What will the volunteers do?

The main role of the volunteers is to support families on a one to one basis. This means visiting the parent in a community setting or their home, learning about their lives and their problems and helping them to find solutions. Family Lives believes that people can and will be able to solve their family problems if given the space and time to reflect; supported by a good listener to help coach them to success. Volunteers will visit families regularly to ensure that parents keep in contact, work with other support services positively and have a chance to discuss issues as they make changes in their family lives. There are also opportunities for volunteers to support the project in other ways, for example, going to local community groups to talk about the project, dropping off leaflets in community centres and helping staff to work with parents who are on parenting courses. 

What support will I get?

Family Lives volunteers get full training in listening and befriending skills with a chance to gain a qualification under the Open College Network. We also offer one to one supervision which aims to track your development and learning, regular group meetings with other volunteers and regular appraisals to ensure that your experience with us is well supported and enjoyable.
 

What does the project hope to achieve

Each family is different but our pilot project has helped families get children back to school, helped parents to contact services and community support, supported parents to work positively with child welfare services and helped to raise parents’ confidence within the family. 

For more information, please see: http://familylives.org.uk/professionals/instructions-not-included Or: http://familylives.org.uk/volunteering