supporting families
Whatever an individual’s background, the huge part that family plays in shaping their character, tastes, interests and aspirations is widely recognised. That is why Spurgeons staff believe that the most effective way to meet a child’s needs is by working within their own family context. Spurgeons helps families facing challenges, such as poverty and marginalisation, to ensure that each child’s experience of family life is positive.
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Many of the families most in need of support are dealing with a number of complex issues. Often these issues cannot be addressed by any one agency alone.
Spurgeons works in partnership with a variety of child-support agencies and through children’s centres, family centres and within family homes. Staff with wide-ranging expertise provide help and advice that is specifically tailored to the needs of each family.
This encourages families to address negative patterns of behaviour, to function better as a unit and to provide their children with the best possible start in life
fast facts
fast facts about families
- According to an Office for National Statistics report, there are 17.1 million families in the UK.[1]
- A family is defined as a married or cohabiting couple with or without child(ren) under eighteen, or a lone parent with child(ren) under 18.
- The number of families headed by a married couple fell by over half-a-million between 1996 and 2006, to just over 12 million.
- At the same time lone-parenting and co-habiting families increased.
- Both family-types now total 2.3 million each.
- Lone-mother led families are most likely to be affected by poverty.
- Lone-mother led families tend to be younger than lone-father led families by approximately 10 years.
- One-third of lone mothers in the UK were under 35 at the time of this report.
[1] All statistics courtesy of the Office for National Statistics
get personal
“When I had my second child, me and my boyfriend lived in a bedsit with my teenage son, Paul. It was way too small. We wanted another place but the council couldn’t find us anything. Paul went mad about the baby crying all the time. He was hanging around with a bad crowd and drinking booze they’d stolen from the corner-shop. I got so stressed out thinking ‘is he safe?’ I thought the Police would turn up at the front door saying he’d been stabbed.
Paul kept stealing money and food off me. He wouldn’t listen to me or my boyfriend. Paul just kept screaming at him or getting in shouting matches where he’d keep shouting ‘you’re NOT my dad” over and over. He kept saying he’d hurt the baby. It got so bad I thought I’d have to kick him out...
Then the council said they’d found us emergency housing on the other side of the city. It was two bedrooms and a lounge, a kitchen and a bathroom. So I could get Paul away from those kids and he could have his own space. He said he didn’t want to come but in the end he changed his mind.
Then, after we’d moved, I started to go to these parenting sessions held at the children and family centre around the corner. This lady from Spurgeons ran them. She had a lot of advice about how to handle things with Paul. She also said why not get him to this Spurgeons group for teenagers. Because then he could hang out with other kids in a safe environment.
It’s still hard work with Paul at the moment. But it’s getting better and I’m not thinking I’ll have to kick him out. I reckon that if Spurgeons keeps helping things will work out ok for us...”