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Celebrating Family Diocesan Projects: Archdiocese of Cardiff
A Parenting Support Officer for the
Archdiocese The Archdiocese already
offered support for marriage and family life, primarily through marriage
preparation and bereavement services but resources had impacted provision
to parents.
It
was agreed at the consultation day that the appointment of a part-time
Parenting Support Officer (PSO) was a priority.
The PSO's role would mainly be to coordinate parenting support programmes
across the Archdiocese, using the materials of the Family
Caring Trust (FCT), a national charity endorsed by many organisations
including the NSPCC and Barnardos. Overcoming initial scepticism and
suspicion Joanne’s
first task was to make contact with the 46 primary schools of the
Archdiocese, providing them with information packs on the FCT parenting
programmes, in collaboration with the Archdiocesan Director of Religious
Education. Initially, take up
on the courses was slow and Joanne had to work hard to overcome initial
scepticism about the perceived value of a faith community offering
parenting programmes, particularly as several Local Authority agencies
were already offering training and support to parents.
Parents too were suspicious of someone ‘telling’ them how to
parent, particularly if that person was perceived to be out of touch with
the real world. Joanne's personal,
down to earth, approach, persistence and hard work enabled her to
dispel this myth and soon establish her credentials with both parents and
teachers. A tweak to her job title also helped and now she is known simply
as Parenting Support. During her first year, Joanne advertised her courses in
deaneries and parishes and spoke at Masses across the region.
The hard work paid off and to date Joanne has run nine
5-15 parenting programmes in schools throughout Cardiff, Newport,
Monmouthshire, Torfaen and Rhondda Cynon Taff. She is booked to
run her first programme for parents of teenagers in January 2011, and has
been asked to run a programme for parents of 0-6s at a primary school
‘Link Up’ group, in Tonypandy. There is an increasing demand for
parenting programmes across the Archdiocese, as more parents discuss the
benefits of the courses and
Joanne’s reputation grows. Joanne
is currently liaising with the Archdiocesan Director of Schools, through
whom she will be addressing the heads of Archdiocesan secondary schools in
the New Year. It is hoped that this meeting will lead to a greater take up
of ‘Teen’ programmes in 2011. “I
realise,
hard as it is sometimes, that it’s me that needs to change not everyone
else” (a mother, Cardiff) Parents
have genuinely appreciated the communication techniques, affirmation and
encouragement they receive on Joanne’s
courses. One parent commented, “I am far from the
perfect parent, if there is such a thing.
However, attending the
Parenting Programme has certainly encouraged me to accept that I am doing
OK, and that’s fine with me.”
Genuine
friendships have also been formed as a result of the programmes, with
parents experiencing a
sense of unity and connection with each other. Commenting on
what she had most enjoyed about her parenting course, another parent said
the best part "was listening to other people and knowing that we are all the same –
working through problems together.” The
programmes are also producing a greater focus on the spirituality of the
family. In Newport, at the
suggestion of a parent, the participants of all previous parenting
programmes in the region were invited to a Home
is a Holy Place workshop, which was a huge success. Many parents need ongoing support
from the Church Joanne
has realised that many parents who attend her courses want, and need,
ongoing support from the Church. Once programmes conclude parents return
to family lives that might still be challenging. Although they have
learned new skills they do not want to return to a situation of parenting
without support. As a result, the Vicar General, Mgr Rob Reardon, is
working with the deans of the Archdiocese to promote other ways of
supporting families who are marginalised, through
bereavement, divorce and separation and
disabilities. Joanne
too, is working to create better support networks centrally and in
parishes, as well as producing a directory of local and national family
support organisations/networks which will be held in the Pastoral Resource
Centre, and made available to the whole Archdiocese.
Strong links have been forged with
the “Care for the Family” charity Joanne has developed
strong ecumenical links with the national charity, Care
for the Family which aims to promote strong family life. Care for the
Family’s range of support services includes facilitator training for two
community programmes: “Drug Proofing your Kids” and “Quidz in”
(which helps parents teach their children how to manage their money).
The Archdiocese recently made a successful bid to Churches Together
for Families, which made possible the training of two Archdiocesan
volunteers as Care for the Family programme facilitators.
Under Joanne’s supervision, the volunteers will run their first
course for families in 2011. This
valuable community based work will be funded by the Celebrating
Family Fund until June 2011, after which time the Archdiocese will be
seeking further, independent, means of securing the project’s future.
If sufficient funding can be attracted, Joanne will continue in her
role, running parenting courses and developing a network of volunteer
facilitators to sustain parenting support initiatives across the whole
Archdiocese. To discuss
funding, and for further information on the project, please contact
Project Manager Anne Ballard or
Parenting Support Joanne White. |
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In
October 2007 Archbishop Peter Smith invited Cardiff’s Family Life
Commission and its 