Further boost for local parenting projects

Family and Parenting Institute

Today the Family and Parenting Institute and the Department for Children Schools and Families can announce the ninety projects which will benefit from the £12 million of grant available through the Parenting Fund.

This is the third round of the Fund which is managed by the FPI on behalf of the DCSF

The fund was set up by the Government in 2004 to give money to build and strengthen the work that the voluntary and community sector does with parents and families.

This time, funding will go to local projects that provide counselling for couples, support parents whose children might be involved in gangs and crime, and those that help disabled parents and parents with disabled children. Services that provide support for families of offenders will also be supported by the Parenting Fund (see end for full list).

Two thirds of all the projects are receiving a Parenting Fund grant for the first time.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, Minister for Children, Young People and Families said: "We are delighted to announce the additional support that will help strengthen family relationships, provide support to fathers and encourage greater take up of existing parenting services. By funding these services we aim to help vulnerable families and those who have not been able to easily get hold of the services they need."

Fairbridge – a charity that works with young people – is one of the projects getting a Parenting Fund grant for the first time. It will work with young men aged 16 to 25 from Birmingham who are either absent, estranged or struggling to build positive relationships with their children because of choices and chaotic lifestyles. It is the first time it has been funded by the Parenting Fund.

Claire Rigby, Manager at Fairbridge West Midlands said: "This is absolutely fantastic news, we are overjoyed about the impact this funding will have on the lives of the vulnerable young fathers we will work with. It will equip them with the much needed skills to be positively engaged in their children's lives, learning and development".

Over the next two years to March 2011, the Family and Parenting Institute will help build the capacity of these projects to secure sustainable funding from other sources and ensure the evidence of good practice is shared across the voluntary sector.

Mick Morgan, Senior Manager of the Parenting Fund at the Family and Parenting Institute said: "The Parenting Fund is funding a diverse range of innovative services for parents and families in their communities. We had 480 applications for grants which demonstrates the commitment and innovation of the voluntary sector in wanting to provide community-based parenting projects."

Local Authority Parenting Commissioners were involved in the application process to make sure the projects that are awarded grants are in line with local parenting strategies and support the commissioning plans for the area.

Liz Fajemisin, Children's Services Development and Commissioning Manager at London Borough of Croydon said: "You can't underestimate the importance of local projects for local people. The Parenting Fund projects are meeting the needs of communities by providing help and support for parents. The Parenting Fund will make a significant contribution to local parenting and family support strategies."

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For more information
Please contact Mick Morgan, Honor Rhodes or Sally Gimson at the Family and Parenting Institute on 020 7424 3460.

Please contact Louise Orr at DCSF on 0207 925 6789.

Notes to editors
The Family and Parenting Institute researches what matters to families and parents. We use our knowledge to influence policymakers and foster public debate. We develop ideas to improve the services families use and the environment in which children grow up.
www.familyandparenting.org

The Parenting Fund has been running since 2004. It is managed by the Family and Parenting Institute. This is the third round of grants. Projects will be funded until 2011.
All of the Parenting Fund projects are run by charities or voluntary organisations ranging from regional branches of national organisations such as Contact A Family in Bristol to local community projects like the Bangladesh Youth & Cultural Shomiti (BYCS) in Leicester.

Projects applying for grants from Parenting Fund Round Three had to meet the following criteria:

• Strengthen existing parental couple relationships, whether parents live together or apart, and assist separated/divorced parents who are in conflict to better work together in order to minimize the impact of the poor parental relationship on their child or children, and so improve outcomes for those children.
• Strengthen family relationships in families where parental behaviours compromise family wellbeing, for example where parents are substance/alcohol misusers, have significant mental health problems or live with high degrees of conflict and distress
• Promote active and positive fatherhood, with particular emphasis on engaging fathers in their children's learning and development
• Promote inclusion and equality by enabling the take up of existing services by disadvantaged, vulnerable, 'hard to reach' and less well served communities
• Work to support families of offenders to improve life chances of their children.
• Offer effective interventions for parents whose children are vulnerable to gang membership, or carrying knives and guns so as to prevent the children committing criminal behaviours in the future
• Promote stronger family relationships and improved parental confidence and skills through intergenerational activity

Regional breakdown of Parenting Fund projects

Birmingham
COPE: Black Mental Health Foundation
Fairbridge
Home-Start Kingstanding
Malachi Community Trust
Murray Hall community Trust
My Time CIC
Race Equality Foundation
Saint Mark's Community Developments
Sutton Coldfield YMCA
The Children's Society
Workers Educational Association (West Midlands Region)
East Birmingham Community Forum Ltd
Campaign for Learning

Blackburn
Child Action Northwest
Coalition for the Removal of Pimping
Lifeline Project

Bristol
Community Resolve
Contact a Family
Hartcliffe and Withywood Ventures (HWV)
One25 Limited
ContinYou -1-

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
Action for Children
Cornwall Dyslexia Association
WILD Young Parents Project
Womens Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (Cornwall)
Trust for the Study of Adolescence**

Croydon
African Families Support Services
Croydon Supplementary Education Project
DisabilityCroydon
South London Tamil Welfare Group
The National Autistic Society (NAS)
Young Carers Project @Off the Record

Derby
Barnardo's (Connecting Communities)
Family Action
Groundwork Derby and Derbyshire
Nacro Community Enterprises (NCE)
Women's Work

Greenwich
Advocacy in Greenwich (formerly Greenwich Citizen Advocacy Project)
Greenwich Mind
Greenwich Toy & Leisure Library Association (GTLLA)
National Autistic Society
Quaggy Development Trust
ContinYou

Hackney
Ethiopian Community Centre in the UK (ECCUK)
Family Action
Finsbury Park Homeless Families Project
the nia project
The Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships
ContinYou (1)

Leeds
Foundation Housing/Together Women
Leeds Counselling
People in Action (Leeds)
Relate Leeds

Leicester
Action Deafness
Bangladesh Youth & Cultural Shomiti (BYCS)
Diversity Hub
Family Action
Turning Point Women's Centre Ltd

Liverpool
Barnardo's (Liverpool)
Families Need Fathers (FNF)
Liverpool Arabic Centre
Liverpool Personal Service Society Inc

City of Manchester
Barnardo's (Health Through Action Project)
Family Action
One Parent Families/Gingerbread
ContinYou(1)

Newcastle
Parentline Plus
The Children's Society

Norfolk
Great Yarmouth Community Trust
Leeway Womens Aid
LOOK - The National Federation of Families with Visually Impaired Children
Ormiston Children & Families Trust
Trust for the Study of Adolescence(2)

North East Lincolnshire
Christian Action Resource Enterprise Ltd
Foresight (North East Lincolnshire) Limited
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Scope

Nottingham
Family Action
Relate Nottinghamshire
Trust for the Study of Adolescence(2)

Peterborough
Speaking Up

Redcar & Cleveland
DISC (Developing Initiatives Supporting Communities)
Families Talking - Tees Valley Mediation

Slough
East Berkshire Women's Aid
Family Action
Home-Start Slough

South Tyneside
Impact Family Services
SAFC Foundation

Southampton
Southampton Women's Aid
Family Rights Group(3)

Southwark
Barnardo's (Southwark)
Family Action
Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers
Southwark Refugee Project Ltd
Family Rights Group(3)

Stoke
North Staffordshire YMCA

1_This ContinYou project is funded to work across Bristol, Greenwich, Hackney and Manchester
2_This Trust for the Study of Adolescence project is funded to work across Cornwall, Nottingham and Norfolk
3_ This Family Rights Group project is funded to work across Southampton and Southwark