11m funding for online and phone support for families
Katy Morton
Monday, October 24, 2011
The Government has announced it is to give 11m to 11 voluntary and community organisations to deliver national online and telephone support for family support services.
Charities and organisations including Relate, Family Rights, Gingerbread and Contact a Family, will receive up to £11m in funding to deliver a support service offering help and advice to families.
The online and telephone support services will cover areas such as relationship advice, targeted support for fathers, helping single parents back to work, advice on education issues and information about benefits.
Parents of disabled children or with special educational needs will also be able to get specialist support through the online and telephone support services.
Relate will use the money to fund their live chat facility which offers free online help and advice to struggling families.
Gingerbread, a charity for single parents, will use the funding to develop their services and create more interactive online tools to complement their expert telephone advice.
Children’s minister Sarah Teather said, ‘All parents need help and advice at some point to deal with the normal challenges of everyday family life. And some parents need more intensive support for the particular challenges they face. The organisations we are funding have a proven track record in supporting families and are trusted by parents. We know thousands of families want and use their services.
‘It’s the Government’s job to support mothers and fathers to be the best parents they can be, without interfering in family life. Online and telephone support will give them the help they need, when they need it, and in a way that works best for them.’
The 11 voluntary and community organisations that will benefit from the funding are: Coram Children’s Legal Centre, Contact a Family, Family Lives, Family Matters Institute, Family Rights group, Gingerbread, Netmums, One Plus One, Single Parents Action Network, Young Minds and Relate.
The online and telephone support services will cover areas such as relationship advice, targeted support for fathers, helping single parents back to work, advice on education issues and information about benefits.
Parents of disabled children or with special educational needs will also be able to get specialist support through the online and telephone support services.
Relate will use the money to fund their live chat facility which offers free online help and advice to struggling families.
Gingerbread, a charity for single parents, will use the funding to develop their services and create more interactive online tools to complement their expert telephone advice.
Children’s minister Sarah Teather said, ‘All parents need help and advice at some point to deal with the normal challenges of everyday family life. And some parents need more intensive support for the particular challenges they face. The organisations we are funding have a proven track record in supporting families and are trusted by parents. We know thousands of families want and use their services.
‘It’s the Government’s job to support mothers and fathers to be the best parents they can be, without interfering in family life. Online and telephone support will give them the help they need, when they need it, and in a way that works best for them.’
The 11 voluntary and community organisations that will benefit from the funding are: Coram Children’s Legal Centre, Contact a Family, Family Lives, Family Matters Institute, Family Rights group, Gingerbread, Netmums, One Plus One, Single Parents Action Network, Young Minds and Relate.
