The HomeGroup

A therapeutic project open to any local family who would benefit, with a priority on supporting families who care for young people who face barriers to positive activities due to their physical and mental health conditions; and young people who experience difficulties with their education.

The project is aimed at individuals and families to help them with forming coping strategies and plans for a better future.  It is delivered informally, within a safe and welcoming space, where resilience, tolerance and British Values can be nurtured collectively at a community level. Sessions explore key themes such as taking back the power of choice; creating the world around you; exploring your imagination; mindfulness and living well; alongside practical activities to aid parenting skills, social inclusion and to assist families to integrate positive changes and learning into their everyday routines.

The project brings individuals and families together to work on activities that encourage self-directed group work; empowering participants to create positive social experiences with each other while building positive family functioning and healthy relationships.

Our sponsors

A larger part of the project is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for "good causes". Since 2004 it has awarded over £9 billion to more than 130,000 projects in the UK.

The Geoffrey Watling Charity part-funded some of the HomeGroup activities.  The Charity was established in 1993 and distributes grants to causes which in the Trustees' opinion merit support.

The Momentum  small grant, administered by Voluntary Norfolk was awarded for the delivery of our virtual family cooking project called 'Nutritious Meals on a budget'.  The grant was used to buy resources such as ingredients for the tutor and families that wanted to participate but could not afford to purchase the weekly ingredients.

Thetford Council's small grant was used to fund some of the virtual family activities such as baking and craft making.

Outcomes

Since the start of the project in September 2019, we have actively engaged, through face to face, digital and virtual methods, with more than 150 individuals and families from across Norfolk and England.  Our weekly Facebook posts and updates reached more than 1000 readers with at least 500 likes and positive feedback about the project.  Outcomes include improved well-being, being more resilient to manage difficult and complex situations; improved attendance and engagement in positive activities and pathways for progression.  In addition, our families report an improvement in their emotional well-being and capacity to manage complex daily challenges; including a reduction of incidents of self-harm or challenging behaviours at home.  We have also supported more than 5 families with EHCP and DLA applications and represented them at school and social care meetings.