Support For Vulnerable Families
At Field Lane we have a different approach to supporting families. Although we are proud of our long heritage, caring for people since 1841, we offer thoroughly modern specialist support services to families today.
It's not about creating a culture of dependency. It's true that we do provide personalised support, however our aim is to help families gain the confidence and skills they need to live independent and fulfilling lives.
The work we do is at Andrew Provan House (APH), which offers safe accommodation and support to families in South West London.
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Our dedicated and committed staff impress upon residents that they are responsible for their own future and it that doesn't have to mirror their past.
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We understand that people who come to us have been through difficult times. Their journey may have included drug addiction, homelessness or abuse. Many of the women are scared and isolated.
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First and foremost we offer women, or occasionally couples, and their children a safe environment. Families have their own flats and our 24-hour team of staff gives them much needed peace of mind. Each family is assigned a key worker who draws up a personalised support plan. Families can stay with us for up to two years.
We offer support with parenting and emotional issues as well as practical help with budgeting and accessing education and childcare. We know we can't do all this ourselves so we work in partnership with local organisations. Parenting isn’t easy and it’s even harder if you haven’t had a positive experience of parenting in the past.
We're also really keen to support clients who want to enjoy those big treats we all love. So we've helped clients go on a pretty to support them
Case Study: Melanie’s story
“I had reached rock bottom. I was living in a drug rehabilitation facility when my son was born, after years of being addicted to heroin. I had lost everything, including my family. When I became pregnant I was planning to put the baby up for adoption but the minute he was born everything changed. He was born an addict, which was something that has been really difficult for me to come to terms with. He was placed with foster carers but I became determined to get myself clean and get him back. He was the first person that I had ever really loved.
Moving to APH was the real turning point for me and four months after moving in my son was allowed to come and live with me full-time. It was an amazing moment but afterwards I struggled with some aspects of parenting. I felt so guilty about the circumstances around his birth and so I was over compensating and giving him everything he wanted which resulted in bad behaviour. The staff at APH arranged for me to get some Early Years support and this has helped me to set boundaries with my son and understand that you need to be consistent as a parent. We are getting on so well now and I’m really grateful for all the support I’ve had here.“
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Name has been changed to protect privacy.
As well as emotional and practical parenting support we encourage independent living by offering help with everyday issues such as paying bills, tenancy agreements, applying for benefits and accessing education and training.
Our ultimate aim is that the women or couples learn the skills they need to bring up their children, hold a tenancy and return to work at some point. We don’t encourage unrealistic expectations but do show people that they can make better decisions in the future.
We know that the future won’t be all plain sailing for the families we support when they leave us – but we hope they have built up the skills, experience and resilience they need to cope with the more difficult times.