If you struggle with aspects of parenting or other areas of your life, you are not alone. Here at Family First, we want to support you in working through the challenges you are currently facing.
We aim for parents and carers to increase their confidence, social support networks and mental wellbeing.
Our vision is to see resilient, thriving, and happy families.
We seek to help you and your family achieve these aims through several approaches.
Parent mentoring: Our parent mentoring program provides you with up to 12 months’ worth of support from a trained family volunteer. You will be assigned an experienced Family Coordinator to conduct an initial assessment with you to identify the areas you need support with.
You will then be matched with a suitable volunteer. Our volunteers visit parents and carers for up to an hour a week to listen to, support, and encourage them to reach their agreed goals. Your Family Coordinator will support the volunteer and carry out regular reviews to ensure the support you receive is working for you. The Family Coordinator can also make referrals to other services if required.
Parenting mentoring is for you, we do not work directly with your children, although the work we do has an impact upon your children and wider family life.
We are a flexible service and will aim to try to support you through whatever situation you and your family are in. You must live in Ipswich, or the immediate surrounding area, and have at least one child under the age of 18.
We work with all families regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, religion, sexuality or cultural background.