Volunteer family coaches needed
Havering Council Early Help Service is looking for volunteers to help local families navigate family life.
Volunteer Family Coaches would support families with issues such as budgeting, school attendance, illness, emotional support, moving on from domestic abuse and other challenges that families may be facing.
The families come from a range of backgrounds – single parents, two-parent families and are of different ages and ethnicities.
They would have already received support from the Early Help service but would like some ongoing support to continue with the progress they’ve made in becoming more independent.
Family Coaches would need to meet their family for a couple of hours each week (due to the ongoing situation with Covid 19 visits are remote and over the telephone) and are asked to commit to the role for at least six months.
Councillor Robert Benham, Havering’s Cabinet Member for Education, Children and Families, said:
“We’re looking for people who can help families continue to build up their confidence in different areas of their lives so that they can become more independent.
“The families have already received support from our Family Practitioners and rather than us simply moving on, we feel it’s important that we can continue to support them by linking them up with someone within the local community who has some life experience and is looking to give back to the community.
“That person doesn’t need to be a parent but needs to show evidence of supporting a family or being in a family unit, and to have life skills that would benefit parents.”
A parent that has recently been supported by the Family Coach Service said:
‘’The support, advice and ideas that I received from my Family Coach has provided me with the reassurance and confidence to do so many more things with my children that I wouldn’t have done before.’’
Training for the role will be held over four sessions via Zoom from 1.30 – 3.30pm on Wednesdays 11, 18, 25 November and 2 December.
Volunteers will receive ongoing training and support through regular supervision.
If you’d like to find out more about becoming a Family Coach, contact alison.day2@havering.gov.uk.