Family Lives

All the celebrations and family gatherings have gone and the spring feels a long way in the future.

If you are also going through a family separation then there are even more challenges to looking after yourself, your family and your well being.

Charity Family Lives has a project, ‘Working it out’ which aims to help parents through this tricky time.

The ending of a relationship brings a mixture of emotions and feelings for everyone.

These difficult emotions can get in the way of talking through the issues and practical arrangements that need to be sorted out for the children.

It can easily begin to feel very complicated and overwhelming.

We know that children can and do survive and thrive after family separation, but it requires hard work to ensure that this happens.

‘Working it Out ‘is here to support parents in that hard work of planning how you can both continue to parent your children.

Parents tell us:

Being able to meet with the worker for a couple of sessions before meeting up with my ex was really helpful.

It allowed me to put into words how I was feeling.

I felt listened to and heard.

The sessions were based around a Parenting Plan which helped us to discuss and come to an agreement on arrangements for our children.

It will need tweeking but it has been a good start.

Having something written down makes us accountable for doing our best to make it work.

Having the opportunity to come back in eight weeks and do this is useful.

We could not let our situation continue as it was.

The sessions made us think about how we could come to an agreement.

We are talking more as a result of the service; having a neutral person helped

We now have some sort of plan in place which is a start

The service helped me to focus on what really matters for our children.

As the project is funded through the government the service is free to parents.