Working to prevent the children of today from becoming the troubled families of tomorrow

MySpace Project

Information April 2015

Welcare supports children up to 13 years old and families who are experiencing challenges in their lives. We provide family support, advocacy, volunteer

mentors, skills training, parenting groups, counselling and domestic abuse recovery

programmes for children across our centres based in South London, Bromley

and East Surrey.

Welcare was established in 1894 and has an excellent reputation in the

communities in which we work.

MySpace Project

Information April 2015

MySpace is an interactive 12 week course run by Welcare in partnership with local schools to support children who have witnessed domestic abuse. MySpace enables children from homes where domestic abuse has occurred to confront and manage their experiences. For many children, the witnessing of domestic abuse will affect their behaviour, self-esteem, concentration and general emotional development. Recovery for these children is vital to allow them to move forward in their lives and experience happy, fulfilled childhoods, and to make the most of their educational opportunities.

What is MySpace?

Course Outcomes

Increased recognition of abuse

Decreased tolerance for abuse

Improved conflict resolution skills

Increased ability to identify & express feelings

Increased positive social behaviour

Increased ability to maintain safety

How does MySpace operate?

The programme is delivered by two Family Support Workers who co-facilitate the group with the help of a volunteer. Courses are run according to age group and children are only able to attend once they are living in different accommodation from the perpetrator. It is advised that siblings or children in the same class at school do not access the programme at the same time. Each course will support between ten and twelve children over 12 weeks during the school term, with each session lasting 2 hours. Parents are invited to attend monthly support groups in which we share with them the topics covered in the programme and provide them with information and strategies to continue to support their children at home. Around 90% of our referred cases have had some history or experience of domestic abuse. Whilst working with the parents and families, our workers noticed the children’s need to talk about their own experiences. Having searched for services and support for children who have experienced domestic abuse, we concluded that there was little available. Our staff have been trained to fill this void and to provide this support. The group setting allows children to realise that they are not alone and are not the only ones to have these experiences. Many children feel like the “odd one out” in their school, not realising that other children may share the same situations.

The Course How MySpace helps

Weeks 1 & 2 - Welcome to the group & group rules

Week 3 - Feelings

Week 4 - Feelings and Defining Abuse

Week 5 - Children’s Experiences of Violence & Abuse

In their families

Week 6 - Staying Safe When Abuse Happens: My

Personal Safety Plan

Week 7 - Beginning to Understand Responsibility

for Abuse

Week 8 - Anger is important: Understanding and

Expressing It

Week 9 – Learning about problems: How to solve

them in positive ways

Weeks 10 & 11 - The Best Me I Can Be: Self-Esteem/

Saying Goodbye

Week 12 - Graduation Ceremony

The course is designed to support

children to:

Process in a supportive environment their

experiences of witnessing domestic abuse

Recognise and understand the importance

of their feelings about the incidents of

domestic abuse they have witnessed

Explore opportunities to deal with these

feelings and find positive ways of responding

to situations in a safe and constructive way

Have the opportunity to hear experiences of

children in similar situations thereby reducing

their feelings of isolation

Raise their self-esteem

Improve their relationships within their own

family unit

How MySpace helps

At Welcare we have 120 years experience working with disadvantaged, marginalised and struggling families. We provide an holistic approach for families experiencing difficult circumstances. Our workers and volunteers use their experience to identify all areas that may be affecting a child or family at the time they approach us. Every child is an individual and every family is unique. Our proven ways of working enable them to find the solutions that work for them. We work across South London and East Surrey from our community-based centres. Welcare has a long, established history of building strong local links and relationships, and we look forward to strengthening these further by running MySpace in partnership with local schools. Two of our Family Support Workers attended a 3 day training course by AVA (Against Violence & Abuse) to enable them to run the MySpace project by building on their existing experience. In April 2013 our Family Support Workers completed a 10 week pilot course at a school in Bromley for Key Stage 2 (aged 8-11 years). An evaluation report was produced by Coram following the pilot. We recently completed a 12 week programme at a second Bromley school for 10 children (Years 3 and 4 – children aged 8-10 years) with a concurrent monthly support group for the parents. In both cases parents and children reported significant benefits and schools reported positive developments in children's behaviour and educational attainment. Testimonials can be provided upon request.

Why Welcare?

Two questionnaires (Coram and AVA) are completed by each child on the first and final sessions of the programme to assess the changes in their understanding of, and attitude towards, situations relating to domestic abuse and violence in general. Parents also complete a questionnaire at the beginning and end of the programme. After every session, the group co-facilitators discuss each child noting relevant observations and agree how best to support the child. Verbal feedback is gathered from telephone calls with parents and at the monthly parenting group. Feedback is also obtained from the school and any other relevant professionals. A final evaluation report is completed 6 months after the completion of MySpace. A follow up group, Stay Connected, is offered to families in order to continue good communication between parents and chil-dren in a stimulating, informal environment.

Why Welcare? Evaluation

Our Partnership

Benefits for schools include: Previously troubled children better

placed to learn Improved behaviour in children

affected by domestic abuse A targeted intervention to prevent

problems in children escalating Support for children’s personal development and preparation for

life Excellent value for money with a

small investment levering in significantly larger resources Welcare will provide group facilities,

materials, evaluation, home visits as necessary and a parent support group

Contribution from school: Contribution rates are negotiable and Welcare will adapt to meet the needs and budget of each school. A minimum agreed upon fee will be required to ensure commitment. If you think you might be interested do contact us to discuss how we can help you. Contact details can be found at the back of this leaflet.

“It helps you to focus on other things than home” - Kia, 8 “If you have a problem they can help you to sort it out” - Jack, 8 “I would recommend other children to go” - Layla, 9 “I have found it fun. It helps me learn what to do if I see people arguing. Stay upstairs, not to try break it up, or go next door for help” - Mo, 8 “Every time I go it gets better, and I learn how to change my life, and I then talk to my mum about it at the end of the day” - Rebecca, 8

“Welcare is an invaluable service provided by no others” - Zarah, mother

“MySpace has really helped my daughter to develop, by teaching her how to handle situations better in a more mature way rather than shouting and arguing” - Lisa, mother

“I would like to thank the team for their commit-ment. It’s been a success for my family” - Michael, father

“I think an important theme is that they are empowered to talk about issues and problems, and understand that when things happen it is not their fault” - Teacher “Kieran has become more focused and more involved with the lessons. He seems quite happy” - Teacher

Our Partnership

For a hardcopy of this leaflet please contact us on 0207 820 7910.

If you would like to help us continue our services for children and families in South London, Bromley and East Surrey, please

consider making a regular or single donation, or volunteering at

one of our centres. Please visit our website for further details.

Southwark Diocesan Welcare

19 Frederick Crescent London SW9 6XN

T: 020 7820 7910

E: info@welcare.org www.welcare.org

Southwark Diocesan Welcare is a registered charity (1107859) and a company limited by guarantee (5275749 )

Our Centres

Bromley East Surrey bromley@welcare.org redhill@welcare.org 020 8466 0399 01737 780 884 Greenwich Richmond greenwich@welcare.org richmond@welcare.org 020 8854 3865 020 8893 9123 Wandsworth Head Office wandsworth@welcare.org info@welcare.org 0208 672 9372 020 7820 7910