Family Wellbeing


Family Wellbeing has been developed to improve the health and wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children and families in West Cumbria by:

• Encouraging a whole-family approach, supporting parents and families to engage and actively support their children’s development
• Supporting children to build emotional resilience, particularly at critical transition points in their lives
•Acknowledging the importance of early years (0-5 years) interventions and the need for intensive family centred support.

We recognise that to really transform children’s life chances, they need sustained interventions that meet the diversity of their needs and that participation and co-production must be a key component of any service.

The programme will also address a need for more support to work with parents and families to establish stability in the lives of children and achieve lasting positive outcomes.

Family Wellbeing offered up to £50,000 a year for three years to projects that work for the benefit of vulnerable and disadvantaged children and families in west Cumbria.

In September 2020, a panel considered applications submitted under the programme and awarded £600,000 in grants that will help deliver seven projects over the next three years.

The projects include:

Always Another Way -iCan be HAPPY
Working with iCan Health & Fitness CIC, Always Another Way will engage with the most difficult to reach families by designing a programme that is fun, positive, interactive and based on the types of support and activities parents want. The programme will help parents to find ways of feeling happier and to learn more positive ways of doing things, which in turn will have a positive impact on their children.

Safety Net (UK) – Whole Family Approach to Tackling Domestic and Sexual Abuse
Safety Net will employ a specialist children and young people’s practitioner to work with families who’ve experienced domestic or sexual abuse. The practitioner will provide training to parents and carers in play therapy techniques to offer therapeutic intervention and then provide supervision and guidance as families begin to navigate and resolve challenges.

Howgill Family Centre – Early Years Parental engagement
Howgill Family Centre will develop a centre of excellence for speech and language development in the earliest years, from 0 – 4 for disadvantaged children who are not reaching the standard level of development.

Time to Change West Cumbria – Family Court Support Officer & McKenzie Friend
Time to Change will employ a family court support officer, based at the Women Out West Centre, who will also train as a McKenzie Friend, ensuring vulnerable women and their children get the moral and administrative support they need in court.

Cumbria Addictions: Advice & Solutions (abbreviated to CADAS)
Cumbria Addictions: Advice and Solutions is a countywide charity offering support and guidance for all ages surrounding substance use and addiction. It provides therapeutic interventions to people with problematic dependences, alongside supporting their families, carers and friends. The charity also delivers advice, training, and consultancy across all sectors as part of its preventative work.

Together We CIC – Together We Improve Family Wellbeing and Emotional Resilience
Together We will deliver six weeks of group emotional resilience and physical activity sessions in Whitehaven area schools for children aged 4-11 years old. The sessions are designed to help children to further develop emotional literacy whilst developing knowledge of coping skills such as using physical activity for mental health.

Barnardo’s – Think Family
Barnardo’s will support children 0-5 years in Copeland identified through the Child Centred Policing Hub as needing intense support around emotional resilience, development, obesity and financial hardship. For 12 weeks, the family will take part in 2 direct work sessions per week that have been tailored to their needs and issues.

Download the Family Wellbeing Poster here.