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Young people face many challenges when leaving care, from financial instability to loneliness and mental health challenges. According to a Government study, many feel alone or isolated and don’t know where to turn.

Jenny Chigwende works in mental health so she is all too aware of the impact that childhood traumas and the care system can have on young people. Jenny is also Chair of W12Together – a resident-led charity for the people of Wormholt and White City.

In a bid to better support the care leavers in their community, W12Together is launching a new service, Tree for Life, which will offer narrative therapy for young care leavers who have experienced trauma.

Jenny says, “It’s a chance for them to tell their story, in a non-stigmatising, non-traumatising way, and to have the rest of the group hear their story. They’ll explore their strengths, values, relationships, skills, hopes and sources of resilience by drawing a tree to represent different parts of themselves. The roots are where you come from – the foundational things that helped to make you who you are. The ground is where you are now. The trunk is your skills and talents; the branches are your hopes and dreams; the leaves are the people who are important to you; and the fruits are the gifts that you’ve been given by those people, like patience.”

The new service is due to launch in January and is being funded with a grant from Hammersmith United Charities.

Christmas dinner for young people who have experienced care

The Tree of Life project is building on an existing W12Together service – its annual Christmas dinner for care leavers. Jenny shares, “The White City dinner launched two years ago through Gold from the Stone – a charity set up by the poet Lemn Sissay to make sure that care leavers have a space to go on Christmas Day, where they can have dinner and feel part of the community. If you live in W12 and you are a care-experienced young person, there will always be a place at our table.”

Each young person who attends will receive a Christmas hamper, along with a quilt from Quilts for Care Leavers. Jenny explains, “The idea is that it’s a hug in a quilt. Every care leaver at the dinner can decide whether they want a quilt, and if they do, they can choose the colour and style.

“One young person who came to our first dinner was about to go into her first flat on her own. She was terrified and talked a lot about that at the dinner. In January, she sent us a photo of her on a sofa wrapped in the quilt. She said, ‘I spent my first night in the flat. I was really anxious, so I reached for my quilt and I felt all of you guys around me.’”

Get involved with W12Together

As well as its support for care leavers, W12Together is working to improve life for the residents of Wormholt and White City in many other ways. You can get involved by:

• Joining a focus group to help shape the future of local healthcare
• Volunteering at local events, such as the charity’s annual festival
• Helping the charity with admin or other tasks
• Joining the Board of trustees
• Offering support in other ways, such as wrapping gifts for the care-leavers’ Christmas dinner

Find out more on W12Together’s website

More than 30% of people over 65 live alone. While many do so happily, others can find themselves becoming increasingly isolated as their mobility needs increase.

Jazz Browne is CEO of Nubian Life. She says, “Isolation is not simply the absence of activity; it is the absence of trusted contact. It’s about not having someone who understands the cultural references, family pressures, migration history, food, faith, humour, grief and pride that shape later life.”

Culturally competent care

Nubian Life provides day care services for African and African-Caribbean residents aged 65+ in Hammersmith & Fulham. The charity started 30 years ago when, as Jazz explains, “A group of elders recognised that they weren’t going back to the Caribbean. They were made to feel unwelcome when trying to access services, and so they set up their own group – Hammersmith & Fulham Black Senior Citizens – which then became a luncheon club, Nubian Life, which then developed into the day centre.”

“Nubian Life is a place where people feel welcomed. They feel at home and they do not have to explain who they are. It is really important that culture is not considered as just an add-on when it comes to care for older people. They do not leave their culture, memory, faith, food, music, family life or lived experience at the door when they need care. Culture is who that person is, and care should respond to the essence of that person. We collect clients in the morning, bring them into the day centre and organise a wide range of activities based on their interests.”

Most of the people who attend the day centre have dementia and/or complex health needs and some are on very low incomes. Jazz shares, “Our clients are known as the Windrush generation, who had to work twice as hard, but they remained lowly paid. When we look at the impact of financial inequality in later life, we’re looking at financial instability; we’re looking at poor quality of life in some cases and we’re looking at isolation and loneliness because they cannot always  afford to go out and join clubs and take part in social activities.”

Alongside its day centre, Nubian Life offers a weekly social group for older men, an advocacy service and exercise classes.

Befriending

Hammersmith United Charities has recently given Nubian Life a grant of £14,374 towards the cost of launching a new befriending service. The service is aimed at people who cannot attend the day centre, either because they don’t meet the criteria or because they’re housebound.

Jazz says, “People can become very isolated at home or in residential care . It’s important that they don’t just fade away. Nubian Life will offer a culturally competent befriending scheme designed to reach people before isolation sets in.”

The charity will be recruiting volunteers through Nextdoor and social media, and is aiming to match them with isolated older people who share similar interests.

Jazz adds, “ The befriending scheme is about building resilience at a community level, so that we all start thinking about what’s going on behind closed doors for older or vulnerable people in our communities.”

Alongside the one-to-one befriending service, Nubian Life will run four group connection activities, tailored to the clients’ interests, whether that be the theatre, art or sightseeing.

HUC’s grant will pay for a part-time member of staff to co-ordinate the befriending scheme. Jazz says, “As a charity. HUC are very clued up about the needs of local communities within the areas that they cover. The staff are really supportive. They’re not a distant funder; they are very approachable.”

Volunteer in Hammersmith & Fulham

Jazz is keen to hear from anyone who might be interested in becoming a volunteer befriender. She says, “If you’re interested in the theatre, going out, knitting or any other kind of activity, and you have a couple of hours a week that you’d like to share with somebody, we’d welcome you. Even if you can only spare 20 minutes one evening a week, that’s enough time for a telephone call and any time is valuable if you share it with somebody else.”

Find out more by contacting Nubian Life: info@nubianlife.org.uk / 0208 749 8017

“No one person is the same. Everyone comes with their own individual journey and story. Our job is to get to the core of what’s causing their distress, deal with that and then bring them to a stronger place. And we’re very good at doing that.”

Pauline Zepherin is Director of Development and Communications at Active Successful Engagement (ASÉ). The CIC uses holistic mentoring to help people to heal and move forward. It delivers a wide range of services in Hammersmith, including:

i-MATTER: Connections

Pauline explains, “ASÉ works with children and young people who may not be engaging with education. The programme focuses on personal development and empowers the young person to develop healthy relationships and to achieve their full potential.

“By building trust, we can help them to get back onto a stronger pathway, reengage with their education, see a positive future and decide that today they want to be here. It’s about empowering them to have hope so they can move forward confidently and positively transform their lives.”

As one pupil shares, “I used to feel really alone, but now I have a mentor who listens to me and helps me with my problems.”

ASÉ also engages with parents and carers who are working with Children’s Services. Pauline shares, “We recognise that, often, if people didn’t receive the appropriate early intervention needed in their childhood, their trauma and life challenges can continue to impact them into adulthood.

“We recognise people may not engage with statutory services because of previous negative experiences. However, we’re very deeply rooted within the community, and we’ve built trust.”

i-MATTER: Voices of Strength

This programme helps participants to better understand the different forms of domestic abuse. Pauline says, “It’s about recognising coercive behaviour and really understanding the journey that you’ve been through with domestic violence, why it happened, and how to come out of that process stronger.” The programme is delivered through a free 12-week Freedom Programme. As a rolling programme, people join at different stages. Pauline says, “This creates a group, a sisterhood, where those individuals who have gone through that healing journey can now embrace others who are just starting that journey.

“It also creates a ripple effect. People take the information out into their community. We’ve had individuals who suddenly realise, ‘My daughter, my friend or brother is experiencing coercive behaviour. My loved one is in a coercive relationship. They need this information.’”

ASÉ also has plans to expand the i-MATTER: Voices of Strength programme into secondary schools to help young people understand what a healthy relationship looks like and how to recognise coercive behaviour.

i-MATTER: Health & Wellbeing & Tackling Inequalities

ASÉ works with families who face cultural, social and systemic barriers to healthcare and wellbeing. The CIC supported the recent H&F Active Wellbeing Event, which was attended by in excess of 550 people. As well as promoting the Advocates for Change programme (see below), ASÉ organised NHS health screenings for attendees, including BMI, blood sugar levels, hepatitis B and C, and liver function. Pauline says, “The focus is on improving health and strengthening the community by helping people to engage with the services that are available.”

Recognising that transport can be a barrier for many people, ASÉ organised a free coach for 69 people from White City and Old Oak and organised free food for the event.

Parent & Carer Champions Network (PCCN)

ASÉ developed the H&F PCCN model and trains volunteer Parent & Carer Champions to provide peer-to-peer support out in the community. Funded by MOPAC between 2020 and 2025, this programme was cited as Best Practice by MOPAC and is featured in the end-of-programme evaluation report.

i-MATTER: Advocates for Change

The PCCN programme will be closing in March, as it’s being absorbed into a new programme – i-MATTER: Advocates for Change. Pauline says, “We’re going to build on the PCCN structure. Our Advocates are not just going to be parents and carers. They’re going to be uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, neighbours, professionals – anyone who wants to make a difference in the community. The sky’s the limit!

“We’ll teach an introduction to holistic mentoring skills, including effective communication and active listening, understanding body language and building trust. It’s about showing people, ‘You’re amazing. You’ve got lived experience. You’re the expert. We’re just giving you the tools so you can use those skills.’”

i-MATTER: Advocates for Change is part-funded by Hammersmith United Charities. ASÉ is one of our Flexible 3 Year Grant holders, so is receiving £15,000 a year for three years.

Pauline says of the grant, “The level of flexibility with the funding is brilliant. The three-year period really does help – it gives us a sense of security and enables us to plan.”

Get involved

If you’re interested in becoming an Advocate for Change in your community, contact ASÉ on 020 3143 0209 / info@asecic.org.uk or visit its website for more details.

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Children thrive when the adults surrounding them work together to meet their needs. This wider support network is even more crucial for children who are struggling.

Mark Griffiths is the founder and CEO of The School & Family Works – a charity supporting vulnerable children at 12 London schools, including Old Oak Primary School. He says, “It’s about getting the right people in the room – the child, the parent, the school representative and a mental health expert – who all work together as a community over time. Together, they intentionally set about righting something that has gone off kilter.”

Rather than support individual families in silo, the charity brings eight families together at a time for Family Group, led by a trained therapist. It’s a safe space where children and adults can discuss challenges, offer mutual support and advice, and celebrate achievements.

Mark explains, “It’s about welcoming people, not judging them. Parents want to support their children, but they don’t necessarily have the models for that. If you can engage people who have shared aims, and they’re honest and committed, then those multiple perspectives can be a real bonus. Families help families.”

Some of the children who come to Family Group have had adverse childhood experiences, as have their parents, and they’re often disadvantaged in a number of other ways. Mark says, “Life is really hard for these families. We see poverty and discrimination. Children fall through the gaps and can be blamed for the difficulties that they’re presenting, when actually their behaviour is just a manifestation of the difficulties in the wider systems around them. If we can enable change in the system – the school system, the family system, and the relationship between those two systems, then lots of new possibilities open to that child, and they’re no longer locked in this particular way of responding.”

The group may talk about challenges that the children are experiencing, such as difficulty regulating their emotions, and discuss coping mechanisms and tools that the children and their families can use. Mark adds, “We’ll discuss things that have happened that week, why they happened and what could be done differently next time.”

As one child shares, “What’s made it work? Telling people what our problems are instead of leaving them behind and making it worse. You tell someone what your problems are and they get solved. We help other people by telling them stuff they can do. You learn about yourself.”

As the child learns, so too do the parents/carers. They’re able to reflect on their own parenting style, break generational patterns that they may not have realised they were holding onto, grow in confidence and build closer bonds with their children.

The adults stay in the group for around 45 minutes after the children have gone back to class, so they can reflect on the session. As trust within the group increases, a parent may feel safe enough to open up about a challenge that they have experienced, such as something that happened in their own childhood, which is impacting their parenting. Mark explains, “Isolation is a really common feature and sometimes parents have experiences that they can’t really talk about outside of the group. As one person shares, another shares and it creates a feeling of safety where people can articulate their experiences and be listened to.”

One Family Group parent says, “I cannot express well enough in words how much good it has done me, sharing wisdom, companionship, experiences, strategies, grief, fears and laughs in such a close, open, honest, nurturing and safe environment.”

Family Group isn’t a quick fix. It requires time, commitment and willingness from each child’s parents/carers. The average length that a family stays in a group is 18 months. When they feel ready to move on, they can, if they wish, join a Parent Graduate Group and continue to receive mutual peer support. A new family will then join the Family Group, benefitting from the experience of families who are further along their journey.

While the group’s members change, the therapist stays the same. Mark says, “We build this sense of safety and community, offer that experience of belonging, and deliver it consistently. You can’t create that kind of level of relational safety without consistency because people will only learn to trust in you over time.”

The benefits of the style of therapy offered by Family Group are numerous. Children learn to better understand and regulate their feelings. At the same time, parents learn tools for guiding their children. As a result, the key relationships in the child’s life, with parents/carers, siblings, teachers and peers, improve. The child gains confidence, and they feel happier, less anxious and more settled. Their school attendance often improves, and they have greater motivation and higher aspirations.

You can hear from the children just how much Family Group helps them by watching this video:

Hammersmith United Charities grants

The School & Family Works recently received a £12,000 grant to help fund its work at Old Oak Primary School. If you want to apply for a grant for your community organisation, you can find out more here. Please complete our Eligibility Quiz before applying and then contact us at grants@hamunitedcharities.com to tell us about your project.

• Read our grants FAQs
• Hear from other organisations we’ve supported

Find out how to apply