The beneficiaries of this project are families with multiple and complex needs

Family Matters Norfolk is a local, grass-roots organisation and has been a trusted and innovative provider of support services to Norwich families for 16 years.  We work across Greater Norwich, primarily in recognised areas of high deprivation, or with families who are otherwise disadvantaged.
The families we work with are often experiencing multiple issues and may have complex family structures.  Issues faced by these families may include inter-generational cycles of poor parenting, low income, poor educational attainment, low aspirations/self-esteem, drug/alcohol misuse, domestic abuse, anti-social behaviour, inadequate housing, physical and/or mental ill-health, learning disabilities etc.  
 
Additionally, for families in receipt of welfare benefits, there is now additional pressure to enter the work-force when the youngest child reaches the age of five.  The recent developments to our Family Pathways Project are targeted specifically at parents who need special support to cope with this change in circumstances.

 
Family Matters has recently further developed the Family Pathways project, which we believe will have substantial long-term and intergenerational impact for vulnerable families through courses, and workshops, building:

•    family resilience and wellbeing,
•    social capital: encouraging aspirations, developing more positive mind-sets within vulnerable families
•    parents’ skills and understanding to support children’s needs, behaviours and learning
•    confidence to engage with support and statutory organisations
•    ‘Family Pathways’:
•    addresses negative patterns of behaviour and thinking, which have inter-generational affects, preventing families from reaching their full potential and increasing the likelihood of expensive, ongoing interventions from statutory services into the future.  
•    promotes the importance of wellbeing, and supports the development of self-confidence, self-esteem and aspirations to make change possible: poor mental health in parents / carers is recognised to have a direct relationship to future mental health problems in children
•    provides positive learning experiences for parents and encourages them to model positive attitudes to education, and raise aspirations for their children

•    seeks to break the cycle of low expectations through the identification of family strengths, building skills and strategies to cope with the demands of daily life and the modern workplace, and build a better future for children and families.

The courses are provided within the context of our other services, enabling parents/carers who might be struggling to engage with the course to receive one to one support.  The courses have proved to be accessible to people with low-levels of literacy, and learning difficulties and have been enjoyed by men as well as women.

Beyond the courses, participants can remain involved and supported to develop skills and confidence as co-facilitators in workshop delivery, as peer support mentors, as user-group representatives (shaping future development) or co-facilitating ‘Time Together’ sessions for parents and their children.