We are very proud to announce that our bid for a new round of funding from Big Lottery was successful.
This means, along with strengthening our existing work, we can invest in the development of some exciting new projects. Feedback from our families, their volunteers and our partners helped us identify two specific areas of need for families in the Wandsworth community.
The first of these is the development of a Family Hubs programme. A few years back in a small room next to our office on York road we asked our families to come in and meet up with one another, make friends and allow their children to play while relaxing with a cup of tea. We realised that by adding small classes for things such as cooking, yoga and English lessons, for example, we could start offering our families this much-needed service to enhance our home-visits.
Now with funding from BIG Lottery, we can do just this and grow and enhance these drop-in sessions to a full service. We have already partnered with BAC to allow more space for courses and classes and provide the children more space to play in. The plan is to expand these drop-in sessions to other parts of Wandsworth so more families can enjoy the service.
The second area of expansion will be developing the Bump to Baby pilot into a full service. The earlier we can support mothers who may be struggling the bigger the difference we can make. This means starting our support at pregnancy. Our volunteers will be given additional training to help them prepare mentally, emotionally and practically for their baby’s arrival.
We have partnered with St George’s hospital in Tooting and Chelsea and Westminster hospital to provide the ongoing training and to refer pregnant women to the service. We will also be marketing the service to GP surgeries and other Wandsworth family support organisations.
With thanks to BIG Lottery for making this all achievable.
