The Participation Works. Emotional health and well being

Parent and Carer Sessions

Our Parent and Carer Sessions are targeted at families who could benefit from a little extra support in their everyday lives. Family life can be hard at the best of times, but when things such as financial troubles and antisocial behaviour involving our children get thrown into the mix, things can get tough. The Participation Works wants to work through all of this with our parents and carers in a supportive environment.

Through building trusting relationships will all those who engage, we identify needs and issues for individuals as well as the whole family, and work alongside the family as a unit to help them with skills such as budgeting, health and nutrition (including cooking), job applications, benefits advice, behaviour management strategies for dealing with their children, and any relevant signposting to specific or appropriate agencies that can offer specialist support. Being an advocate for families in this matter makes a marked difference in confidence, cohesion, communication, and the independence of each of the members within the family unit.

Cookery skills

Project Aims

To provide workshops for life skills including cooking, budgeting… and cooking on a budget!
To offer team building opportunities to promote family bonding
To work towards a sense of identity and self-esteem for all parents and carers
To foster the development of coping strategies and behaviour management techniques
To offer a warm, friendly and caring environment to learn new skills
To provide a safe and non-judgemental space for parents and carers to talk about their issues
To signpost our families towards the range of support agencies and specialist services available to them
To provide an ‘escape’ from day-to-day stresses, pressures and issues
To offer the opportunity for parents, carers and their children to make new friends
To encourage our parents and carers to volunteer their time and skills in order to benefit our community as a whole

Project Outcomes

At The Participation Works, bringing families together is only the first step. We need to know that our work is having a direct and positive impact on those who engage with what we offer. It is therefore our aim to achieve the following outcomes:

Improved quality of life for both young people and their parents and carers
Improved emotional health and wellbeing of parents and carers
Implementation of behaviour management techniques in working with our young people
A more cohesive community
Awareness and signposting to support agencies and specialist services
Increased resilience and coping strategies
An open, caring and non-judgemental network of peers and friends
Healthier lifestyles and life choices by using food and cooking as a medium
Ownership of each family’s very own self-produced cookery book
A community that can cook!

“These sessions are a place to meet, to talk, and to share problems. Money problems, parenting problems, relationship problems and school problems… don’t we all have those? As part of the sessions at The Participation Works, we have had talks from specialists who can help us with different areas of our lives, we have completed a First Aid course, and we have even made our own cookbook. Belonging to a group can be really important, and in this one we get a sense of achievement, knowledge and support to help us cope when even simple things seem overwhelming with kids. I love being in this group.”

Lisa Peynado - Retired Teacher and Local Parent

Healthy Eating